Verse by verse teaching - 2 Kings 17:38-41

Let's begin our Sunday school lesson. We are in 2 Kings chapter 17. 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 2 Kings chapter 17. 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:13,000 We finished verse 38 last week by studying how the fear of the Lord led Joseph to honoring covenants. 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:29,000 We noted that he honored a covenant between his master and his wife, 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:39,000 but the most important covenant he honored and the one that enabled him to honor the others was his covenant with God. 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:46,000 Now let's go right into verse 39 for the new part of our study. 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:51,000 In 2 Kings 17 verse 39 if you're just tuning in. 00:00:51,000 --> 00:01:01,000 "But the Lord your God ye shall fear, and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies." 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:12,000 And although the Jewish priest who had been sent from Assyria had taught the Samaritans how they should fear the Lord earlier in this chapter, 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:26,000 they didn't do it right. 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,000 Neither did the children of Israel who had also been taught to fear the Lord through centuries and centuries of the prophets bringing God's Word to them. 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:41,000 And the law and the priesthood when the priesthood was doing it right. 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:49,000 And as I studied this passage I came across another passage that revealed a great truth concerning fear of the Lord. 00:01:49,000 --> 00:02:01,000 You may recall after the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt, 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:07,000 they whined and complained and murmured about how good they had it in Egypt. 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:14,000 They referenced the food didn't they? 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,000 They said we were by the flesh pots and we enjoyed the leeks and the garlic and garlic and the onions. 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:26,000 And Moses he's brought us out to the wilderness to die. 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:31,000 They were carnal people and all but two members of that generation died in the wilderness. 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:41,000 Joshua and Caleb would go into the Promised Land with that next generation of Israelites. 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:48,000 So we rewind back in time to even before that event when Pharaoh's army was chasing the children of Israel as they approached the Red Sea. 00:02:48,000 --> 00:03:04,000 And God parted that Red Sea and dried up the ground and let every one of the children of Israel whom he had delivered from bondage, 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:14,000 the ones who were still even the mixed multitude who was with them, they all crossed over on dry ground. 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:24,000 And then God drowned the entire Egyptian army by releasing that judgment upon them that he withheld from the children of Israel, 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:34,000 that being a wall of water, the waters of the Red Sea. 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:38,000 Now here's the next verse after that mighty scene and it's found in Exodus 14 verse 31. 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:48,000 "And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians and the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses." 00:03:48,000 --> 00:04:01,000 And in that verse I couldn't help but notice that God first delivered his people before they feared him. 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:12,000 He delivered the children of Israel before the children of Israel feared the Lord. 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:18,000 They didn't first fear the Lord before he delivered them. 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:24,000 Their fear was based upon the truth that God had delivered them. 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:33,000 And in our present verse here in 2 Kings 17, God tells them to fear him and then he shall deliver them from their enemies. 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:47,000 It's like a spiritual sandwich. It's the best I could do this morning for you. 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:54,000 You have God's deliverance, you have man's fear, and you have God's deliverance. 00:04:54,000 --> 00:05:03,000 And it's God's faithfulness, not man's fear of the Lord that began our deliverance. 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:11,000 And it's God's faithfulness that will complete our deliverance from sin. 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:19,000 Are you hung up on the spiritual sandwich analogy? Let me read you a verse that will help you with that. 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:26,000 It's found in Philippians 1 verse 6. 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:30,000 Philippians 1 verse 6. 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,000 "Being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you." 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:40,000 Now there's the top piece of bread right there. 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:45,000 "Will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,000 Now that's the other piece. 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,000 He began it and he will perform it. 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,000 And the work is right here in the middle. That's what we accept by faith. 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:59,000 Here's another one. 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,000 Found in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2. And if you're taking notes, put the little letter A, the lowercase letter A. 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:10,000 That tells us we're not reading the entire verse, just the first part. 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:15,000 "Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith." 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:22,000 He's the author, he began it. 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,000 Here's our faith, he's the finisher of our faith. 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,000 We neither began it nor will we finish it. 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:31,000 By faith we accepted the work. 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:35,000 And it really helps us understand that we didn't just get up one day 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:42,000 and in our flesh decide to seek God for salvation. 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:48,000 The children of Israel did not just get up one day while they were in Egypt and say, 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:53,000 "Hmmm, today is a good day to start fearing the Lord. I think I shall begin." 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:58,000 No, God delivered them, they feared him, and he will deliver them again. 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:06,000 Because right now in our text they are in Assyrian captivity. 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:13,000 God began the work, the people believed in the work, and God will finish the work. 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:21,000 And even though the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:27,000 they were still a carnal bunch of people. 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:31,000 They were not a spiritually mature bunch who feared the Lord as they should have. 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:40,000 They had done nothing to commend themselves to the Lord. 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:44,000 God didn't look at the children of Israel in Egypt and say, 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:48,000 "You know they've come a long way. They are really doing better than they were 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:52,000 the generation before and the generation before. They have improved themselves." 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:58,000 No, it was by grace and mercy alone that God looked upon them and had pity on them 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:05,000 and delivered them. 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:07,000 How do we know they were carnal? 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:11,000 Well, do you remember the story about Moses 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:15,000 seeing an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:20,000 and Moses killed that Egyptian and buried him in the sand? 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:26,000 And you would think the Hebrews or the children of Israel 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:30,000 would have been so glad that Moses came to their rescue 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:36,000 that they would have honored him and said, 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,000 "Moses, you're truly a servant of God. You stood up for God's people. 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:44,000 Well, here's their response. 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:48,000 This happened the next day, 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,000 and it's found in Exodus 2, verses 13-14. 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:56,000 If you want to write that down, Exodus 2, 13-14. 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:00,000 This is speaking of Moses. 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,000 "And when he went out the second day," 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,000 that means the day after he killed the Egyptian, 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:09,000 "behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together. 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:15,000 And he said to him that did the wrong, 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:19,000 'Wherefore, smitest thou thy fellow?' 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:23,000 And he said, 'Who made the apprentice and a judge over us? 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:29,000 Intendest thou to kill me as thou killest the Egyptian?' 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:36,000 And Moses feared and said, 'Surely this thing is known.'" 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:40,000 What a response. 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:42,000 The day before, you would think Moses had earned his stripes 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:49,000 in the presence of those Hebrews, 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,000 and that because of what he had done the day before, 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:56,000 making right something that was wrong, 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:59,000 the next day he would have been honored as a judge, a righteous judge, 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:04,000 that the two Hebrews who were striving against one another 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,000 and one of them had resorted to physical violence, 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,000 that the one in the wrong would have said, 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,000 'You know, you're right, Moses. I saw what you did yesterday. 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,000 You're a righteous man. You're a man of God. 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,000 And you're right, I was wrong today, 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,000 and I should not have smitten my Hebrew brother. 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:24,000 And I'm sorry.' 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:25,000 No, he said, 'Who made you a judge over us?' 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:30,000 Do you know how many times, and perhaps this has happened to you, 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:34,000 when you've tried to tell someone what God's Word says about their sin, 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:38,000 and they say, 'You can't judge me. You're not supposed to judge me.' 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:42,000 They don't understand what judgment is. 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:45,000 They have no idea the context of the statement, 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:50,000 'Jesus may judge not lest ye also be judged.' 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,000 They don't read the whole passage and see what that actually means. 00:10:53,000 --> 00:11:00,000 There's no appreciation for Moses' righteous judgment and all, 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:06,000 and across the masses in this world, 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:10,000 there's no appreciation for God's Word when man speaks it. 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:17,000 But there are some who honor it, 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,000 and we want to be those people. 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:24,000 When the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt, 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,000 they were just as unworthy as we were when we were delivered from our bondage of sin. 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:33,000 So in the wilderness, they feared the Lord for the works they saw with their own eyes, 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:39,000 rather than for the great deliverance He gave them. 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:43,000 He delivered them from Egypt, but in doing so, 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,000 He was showing them a greater deliverance, 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,000 and that is the one He would accomplish at the cross when He delivered mankind from sin. 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:59,000 The right kind of fear of the Lord not only honors the short-term physical deliverance of the past, 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:09,000 but it looks forward to the Lord's deliverance in the future. 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:14,000 Now look back in your text, 2 Kings 17, verse 38, 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:21,000 where it says, "And He shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies." 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:28,000 Let's look at that phrase for a moment, "out of the hand of all your enemies." 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:33,000 That means not only the physical hand of their enemies, 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:38,000 for they were in bondage, and so are the children of Israel in the day we read about. 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:44,000 They were in bondage to Assyria, but also God delivered them from the place of their enemies 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:54,000 and from the power of their enemies. 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:58,000 Israel had physically been taken by the hand of Assyria to Assyria, 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:05,000 which was also the place of their enemies, 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:09,000 and they had not been allowed to leave what shows you the power of their enemies. 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:15,000 They were in bondage there as much as they were in bondage in Egypt, Babylon, and under the Roman Empire. 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:26,000 And when God delivered His people from their enemies in the Bible we read of these stories over and over, 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:36,000 He delivered them physically and geographically and politically. 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:42,000 You know, there is no good reason that Israel should ever have been removed from the Promised Land 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:49,000 when God put them there, when He brought them into that land. 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:53,000 There was no good reason Israel's enemies should have been successful in conquering any part of the Promised Land 00:13:53,000 --> 00:14:03,000 or taking any of its people captives. 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:07,000 And there was no good reason Israel should have ever been under the political power of any other country. 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:17,000 Remember, they lived in their own land and were still politically subject to various governments such as the Romans. 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:28,000 When God delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage, they were never meant to be in bondage again. 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:37,000 So why were they? 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,000 They did not fear the Lord, as in this case, so they were made captives of their enemies in every way. 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:48,000 And just as their deliverance is a picture of the sinner's deliverance from his enemies, let's make a spiritual application here. 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:59,000 I'm going to give you a few verses. 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,000 The first one is in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 25 through 26. 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:08,000 1 Corinthians 15, 25 through 26. 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:13,000 "For he must reign," that is Christ, "till he hath put all enemies under his feet." 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:21,000 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:27,000 Now when Israel feared the Lord, all of their enemies were under their feet. 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:38,000 Psalm 47, verses 2 and 3 is another verse. 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:43,000 Psalm 47, verses 2 through 3. 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:47,000 "For the Lord Most High is terrible," that means he causes terror. That doesn't mean he's awful. 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:56,000 "He is a great king over all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us and the nations under our feet." 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:06,000 And as we've learned, those enemies subdued Israel when Israel disobeyed the Lord and did not fear him. 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:17,000 And had Israel completely obeyed the Lord, their earthly enemies would still be under their feet. 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:26,000 And this is another demonstration of how the works of man can never, never result in our enemies being put under our feet. 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:38,000 I don't know how many battles and wars and conflicts mankind has had since the Garden, but it has to be in the thousands upon thousands. 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:50,000 Some on greater scale, some of a lesser scale, some have never stopped. 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:57,000 And when one country conquers, puts its enemies under its feet, it's not long until another country conquers, or that country wins its freedom back, 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:08,000 and it's just give and take, push and pull, and it's never final. 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:16,000 In Israel and we have something in common. 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:21,000 We are sinners who have not obeyed God's law. 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:26,000 And although for Israel the result of that disobedience was to be captives in this nation and that nation, we face an even bigger enemy. 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:41,000 An enemy that in our flesh we have failed to subdue. 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:47,000 If you ask the average person on the street, "Who is America's biggest enemy?" 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:54,000 Some would say, "Well, it's China." 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,000 Others, "Oh, well, it's Russia." 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:58,000 "Oh, no, no, it's Saudi Arabia." 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,000 "It's this country and that." 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:04,000 "It's all of the countries sending their people illegally across our border." 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:08,000 "None of those are our biggest enemies." 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,000 "Those are temporary earthly enemies." 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:17,000 That biggest enemy we face is the enemy of death. 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:22,000 Romans 6, verse 23, little letter A, first part of the verse says, "For the wages of sin is death." 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:31,000 So if you say, "Well, our biggest enemy is sin." 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:33,000 Yes, in a sense it is, but it leads to death, and not just one death. 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:39,000 Because of sin we must die. 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:43,000 And all people who have lived will die a physical death. 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:48,000 Even in a sense those who are raptured from the earth without going to the grave, 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:55,000 that body itself will not go to be with Jesus, because it's a corrupt body. 00:18:55,000 --> 00:19:00,000 It has to be changed. 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:01,000 So in a sense there is a death there. 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:06,000 And we can't put that enemy under our feet, can we? 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:09,000 No matter how strong our armies are, someone else has to do that for us. 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:17,000 And I'm going to read that verse from 1 Corinthians 15 again, the one I just read you. 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:23,000 "For he must reign," listen for the pronouns, "till he hath put all enemies under his feet." 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:30,000 "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,000 Who's going to do that? 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:34,000 Jesus already did it. 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,000 And he's going to complete that for us practically. 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:41,000 He's done it for us positionally. 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,000 But he's going to complete it for us practically one day. 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:48,000 Notice that passage says, "till he hath put all enemies under his feet." 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:54,000 Now a person might look at that and say, "Well that's wonderful." 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:58,000 That's good for Jesus and his enemies, that they're under his feet. 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:03,000 But what about my enemies? 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:06,000 What about death? 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:09,000 Ephesians chapter 1 verses 19 through 23. 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:14,000 Ephesians 1, 19 through 23. 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:18,000 "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:23,000 according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ, 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:29,000 when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:34,000 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:38,000 and every name that is named not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:44,000 and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to behead over all things to the church, 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:53,000 which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all." 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:58,000 Now I know underlined in my notes, "Christ hath put all things under his feet, 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:07,000 head over all things to the church which is his body." 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:11,000 Now let's digest some of that passage a little bit. 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:14,000 Paul there is of course writing about the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:18,000 who has put all things, including our enemies, under his feet. 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:25,000 And he wrote that Christ is the head of the church which is Christ's body. 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:33,000 Now if you are saved, you are a member of Christ's body. 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:37,000 You are a member of the church. 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:40,000 Whether you're a member of Central Baptist Church here, 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,000 or Central Baptist Church in another city, 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:45,000 or Second Baptist Church over yonder, or overseas, the right believing church, 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:50,000 our brother wisdom has, you're members of the body of Christ. 00:21:50,000 --> 00:22:01,000 And if you're a member of his body, then his feet are your feet. 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:08,000 Where did he put all of his enemies? He put them under his feet. 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:13,000 He put them under his feet, and the only way they're under my feet 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:16,000 is if they're under his feet, and I am in him. 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:19,000 All enemies he put under his feet are put under your feet, 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:23,000 even the last enemy which is death. 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:27,000 When I die, this corrupt body, which gets more arthritic by the week, 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:36,000 not complaining, just giving you a news update. 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:40,000 I'm glad to be here. 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,000 But this old corrupt body is going to go into a grave somewhere 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,000 after it goes to medical school, God willing. 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:49,000 And because Jesus put the enemy of death under his feet, 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:55,000 which are my feet, then death doesn't get to keep me as its prisoner when I die. 00:22:55,000 --> 00:23:03,000 In fact, my corrupt body, no matter how long it lays in the ground 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:07,000 or in the tomb or wherever it goes, 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:12,000 my corrupt body is going to be changed in the resurrection, 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:16,000 and I will live forever. 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,000 As the Bible says, death hath no more dominion over me. 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:27,000 Revelation chapter 20 verse 6, 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:31,000 Revelation 20 verse 6, 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:35,000 it describes the saved as those who have part in the first resurrection. 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:43,000 It said, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection." 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:47,000 Now that's the Christian. 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:49,000 "On such the second death hath no power, 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:54,000 but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,000 and shall reign with him a thousand years." 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:01,000 The second death has no power. 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:05,000 The second death had to have its power taken away. 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:10,000 What about the lost one who dies? 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:15,000 The one whom the enemy of death takes to the grave. 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:20,000 Well, that lost dead person had not become a member of the body of Christ 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:25,000 by faith in the Gospel. 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:28,000 So he will have to rely on himself to put the enemy of death under his feet, 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:36,000 and he's going to lose. 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,000 He's already lost. 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,000 He's condemned already because he's not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:44,000 He's rejected him. 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:45,000 And if he continues that unbelief, he will continue in that condemnation. 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:52,000 And if he's lost, if he's rejected Christ, he can't use Christ's feet. 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:59,000 He can't say, "Well, the enemies are under Christ's feet, so they're under my feet," 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:03,000 because he's rejected Christ's feet. 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,000 He doesn't want to become a member of his body. 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:10,000 He wants to try it on his own. 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:17,000 So this lost dead person will suffer what the Bible calls the second death. 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:26,000 And that's found in Revelation 20, verses 14 through 15. 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:32,000 It's not the only place it's found, but it is mentioned there. 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,000 Revelation 20, verses 14 through 15, 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,000 "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire." 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,000 This is the second death. 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:44,000 "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life," 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,000 now that's the book where all the saved are written, 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:51,000 "was cast into the lake of fire." 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,000 And you would correctly say, therefore, that the second death has great power over the unbeliever. 00:25:54,000 --> 00:26:05,000 He cannot put it under his feet. 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:09,000 Our text back in 2 Kings said, "He shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies." 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:15,000 Now, we've looked at the spiritual application concerning the believer 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:21,000 and concerning Israel as well, and also the unbeliever. 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:25,000 And I'd like to address for a moment how people in our day 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:31,000 either misunderstand or misapply this great truth. 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:35,000 I like that he says, "All your enemies." 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:41,000 It lies in the failure to recognize the word "all." 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:46,000 It's a big little word, isn't it? 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,000 He said, "All your enemies." 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,000 After our country was attacked on 9/11/2001, 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:57,000 many people suddenly became religious. 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:03,000 They prayed for God to help the injured victims 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,000 and the first responders who were trying to save them. 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:10,000 They prayed for the enemy to be defeated and all of that. 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:18,000 When a loved one is ill, people pray for healing to that person's body. 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:24,000 And I've said it before, and I'll say it again, 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:27,000 when you look at the things for which people on Facebook pray, 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:31,000 most of them are earthly, and some are downright carnal, 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:37,000 but a few are about, very few, are about the greatest need a man has. 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:44,000 People will pray to keep the physical enemy of death at bay to defeat it. 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:52,000 But the enemy of spiritual death is often not on their radar when they pray. 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:59,000 There are many instances of prayer in the Bible, 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:01,000 some for sick folks to be healed, some for other things. 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,000 And they're all good when they're done God's way. 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:09,000 Philippians 4, verse 6 says, "Be careful or anxious for nothing, 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:15,000 but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,000 let your requests be made known unto God." 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:23,000 Luke wrote that the purpose of a parable Jesus gave 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:28,000 in the first part of Luke chapter 18 was that men ought always to pray and not to faint. 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:37,000 So at no time will you hear us say, "Well, don't stop praying for sick people. 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:42,000 Stop praying for people who lost a job and all that we want. 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:46,000 We want to do that. We want to continue to do that." 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:50,000 Poverty is their enemy. 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:53,000 Sickness is their enemy. 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,000 Physical death is their enemy. 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:57,000 The most important thing we can pray for, 00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,000 and this is why we ask sometimes during our prayer request time on Wednesday nights, 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:04,000 you mentioned that there's a person who is sick. 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,000 Brother Fulton or I may ask, "Do you know if that person is a Christian?" 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:13,000 Because we'd rather focus on their salvation, 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:18,000 major on their salvation and minor on their physical illness. 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:22,000 We'll pray for both. 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,000 But I don't want to just pray for a lost person to be spared from hell for a few more months 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:29,000 and never give any attention to the fact that they're lost. 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:36,000 And because death is the greatest and the last enemy, 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:40,000 then we ought to be busy praying for those who need the enemy of death, 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:45,000 the second death, to be put under their feet. 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:49,000 And while God may honor the prayer to extend a person's life, 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:55,000 which we are thankful for, nothing can keep them from dying one day. 00:29:55,000 --> 00:30:01,000 The body is corrupt. 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:03,000 It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment. 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:08,000 It's a wage that has to be paid, death. 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:12,000 Sin demands it. 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:15,000 But the enemy of death shall be put under their feet 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:19,000 when they put their trust in the one under whose feet the enemy has already been placed. 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:26,000 He shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:31,000 Look back with me now in verse 40. 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:34,000 "Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner." 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:43,000 Howbeit they did not hearken. Let's look at that. 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:47,000 That means they heard with the ear. 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:50,000 It doesn't mean that they didn't hear at all. 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:53,000 They heard with the ear, but they did not obey. 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:56,000 We've studied the word "hearken" and looked at the sense of it several times in here. 00:30:56,000 --> 00:31:02,000 And hearkening is listening with the attitude toward obedience. 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:09,000 Because I'll read you something in Genesis chapter 3 verse 17. 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:15,000 "And unto Adam he said," that is God said, 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:19,000 "because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:24,000 and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:27,000 saying thou shalt not eat of it. 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:29,000 Cursed is the ground for thy sake, 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:31,000 and sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life." 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:39,000 Adam and Eve had already eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:45,000 at the time this verse occurred. 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:49,000 And when God said, "Adam hearkened to the voice of his wife," 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:53,000 the problem with it is that Adam had not hearkened to the voice of God. 00:31:53,000 --> 00:32:00,000 And we know that Adam heard because the text said, 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:06,000 "of which I commanded thee, saying thou shalt not eat of it." 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:10,000 God said, "Remember, I've already talked to you about this. 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:14,000 I've already said you will not eat of that fruit." 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:18,000 So it wasn't that Adam never heard, it's that he didn't obey. 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:23,000 He hearkened, he heard the voice of his wife, and he obeyed her voice, 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:28,000 rather than taking what he heard from the voice of God and obeying his voice. 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:39,000 He chose to contradict what God said. 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:43,000 Now wives, if you want to be godly examples to your husbands, then you should. 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:49,000 Never ask or suggest your husband do something 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:53,000 that causes them not to hearken to God's word. 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:58,000 Oh, can't you just put that Bible up for a little while we have company coming over? 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:03,000 We'll never do that. Not that any of you would. 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:06,000 But we're humans, aren't we? 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:09,000 Sometimes we say things that we wish we hadn't. 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:14,000 Husbands, if your wife makes a suggestion 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:17,000 or requests you to do something or avoid something, 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:21,000 then violate scriptures, don't hearken unto her. 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:24,000 You see what a mess that got mankind in. 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:28,000 Israel heard God's word through the prophets, 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:31,000 but they did not hearken to it. 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:34,000 Look back in the text it says, "But they did after their former manner." 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:39,000 And we can make a logical deduction here. 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:43,000 You cannot hearken to God and do after your former manner 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:47,000 more than you can serve two masters. You can't do it. 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:53,000 Now for an unbeliever, there is no hearkening to God. 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:57,000 An unbeliever doesn't believe the record God gave of his son. 00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:02,000 Therefore, he doesn't believe in God as we who are saved. 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:07,000 Because if he believed in God truly, he would believe God's word 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:11,000 and what God says about himself, about sin, about deliverance, judgment, and everything else. 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:25,000 And even if an unbeliever does something kind, generous, 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:29,000 if he obeys the law, if he goes to church every time the doors are open, 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:38,000 he's doing it because he thinks that's what's right. 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:42,000 And as soon as his opinions or values change, 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:46,000 then he will think something else is right and do that. 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:51,000 Now the Christian on the other hand, hearkened to God 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:56,000 by believing the record he gave of his son, 00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:59,000 that Jesus died and was buried and rose again the third day 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:03,000 according to the Scriptures, the Gospel. 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:07,000 And that believer is now an incorrupt spirit in a corrupt body. 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:17,000 And although his spirit is united with the second Adam, that's Jesus, 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:23,000 his body is united with the first Adam. That's why it has to die. 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:28,000 And until his corrupt body is changed, 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:31,000 he will always be involved in a battle between the body from the first Adam 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:37,000 and the spirit from the second Adam. 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:39,000 We don't have the glorified body from the first Adam yet. 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:44,000 This body has to die first. 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:47,000 So the believer will have two to whom he may hearken. 00:35:54,000 --> 00:36:01,000 The God of this world, Satan, and the God of the Word. 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:07,000 Now the God of this world with a little g, Satan operates 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:12,000 through these fleshly desires we have in this corrupt body. 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:17,000 And the God of the Word operates in us by his spirit according to his Word. 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:23,000 God doesn't have to check in and see how we're feeling that day 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:27,000 as to whether he should give us his Word, whether it would be a good day 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:31,000 for him to make a suggestion to us. 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:33,000 He operates in the believer by his spirit through his Word. 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:38,000 So if you're a Christian and you read God's Word and you say, 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:43,000 "Wow, that's convicting. I have been doing wrong concerning that. 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:49,000 I want to do right. That's the Spirit of God. 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:51,000 That's not you just having a good positive outlook on life. 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:55,000 That's the Spirit of God working in you because the flesh doesn't want to do that. 00:36:55,000 --> 00:37:00,000 The flesh doesn't want to do anything that's inconvenient or hard or different. 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:06,000 And so I'll give you a passage from Romans chapter 6 verses 12 through 13. 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:17,000 Now this is to believers. If you read this chapter, 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:22,000 you will see this is to Christians. 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:25,000 "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:31,000 that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:36,000 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:41,000 but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:49,000 and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." 00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:54,000 So taking what our text says that they did after their former manner 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:59,000 and applying this passage to it, obeying sin in the lust of the flesh 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:04,000 was your former manner. 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:08,000 Yielding yourself unto God is your new manner since you became a Christian. 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:16,000 When you yield to God, you have to do it according to what His Word says. 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:21,000 People have all sorts of silly religious notions about yielding to the Spirit. 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:27,000 I'm just going to yield to the Spirit. I'm going to yield to the Spirit. 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:30,000 And in some sort of weird way, they think that whatever it is they did at that moment 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:35,000 was yielding to the Spirit. 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:38,000 They have their own interpretation of what that means 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:42,000 when really what they're doing is trying to yield to God 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:46,000 according to the lust of their flesh rather than as one who is alive from the dead. 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:53,000 Did you know that you are alive from the dead even though you haven't died yet? 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:57,000 That is a future truth that you possess right now. 00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:01,000 It's as good as done even though time has not caught up with that truth. 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:06,000 It's a great place to be. That's the only place to be, isn't it? 00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:14,000 And our flesh and all its efforts are crucified with Christ. 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:21,000 In fact, let's look at that verse that helps us to understand 00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:25,000 how our former manor tries to get in the way of our new man. 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:31,000 It's Galatians 2, verse 20. You may be very familiar with it. 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:35,000 Galatians 2, verse 20, where Paul wrote, "I am crucified with Christ. 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:40,000 Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:44,000 And the life which I now live in the flesh..." 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:48,000 Alright, so the life he lives in the flesh, in this body. 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:52,000 "I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." 00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:57,000 So how is it that man in his flesh does something pleasing to God? 00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:04,000 He does it by faith of the Son of God who loved him and gave himself for him. 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:11,000 He does it by faith as one who is alive from the dead, 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:16,000 not by the efforts of his own flesh, not according to his former manor. 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:24,000 In that verse, there are two lives being addressed. 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:27,000 The life that Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh. 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:34,000 The life Christ lives in me is unto eternal life. 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:39,000 It's the spiritual life he's given me and the means by which I am a partaker of his life. 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:47,000 And the life I now live in the flesh is a life that will end in death. 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:53,000 However, during the short time I live in this flesh, 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:57,000 during the short time you Christian live in this flesh, 00:40:57,000 --> 00:41:02,000 we live it by faith of the Son of God. 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:06,000 I don't live this life according to my former manor 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:09,000 because my former manor was not by the faith of the Son of God, 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:14,000 but it was according to the lusts of my flesh. 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:18,000 So when you find yourself doing, saying, thinking, wishing something 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:24,000 that was according to your former manor, don't blame God for it. 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:29,000 That's you yielding your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:34,000 rather than yielding yourselves unto God. 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:38,000 Oh Israel, why do you do after your former manor? 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:41,000 Verse 41, 00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:44,000 "So these nations feared the Lord and served their graven images, 00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:48,000 both their children and their children's children, as did their fathers. 00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:53,000 So do they unto this day." 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:58,000 They feared the Lord and served their graven images 00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:02,000 with their own ideas of what it meant to fear the Lord. 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:06,000 We covered that in great detail, 00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:08,000 the difference in the two types of fear of the Lord. 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:12,000 These people, it's not only the Samaritans, but the children of Israel in captivity, 00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:19,000 constructed this hybrid religion that would suit them. 00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:23,000 Their hearts were not right before the Lord. 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:26,000 They put God on a shelf with all their other images. 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:29,000 Remember they put that great altar next to the brazen altar? 00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:33,000 Well, we'll just put it next to it. 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:35,000 And before you know it, the brazen altar is the one that goes, not the great altar. 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:40,000 That's what happens with man. 00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:44,000 And so they remained in captivity. 00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:47,000 And if you'll remember, their king, Hosea, was already in an Assyrian prison. 00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:54,000 Israel is in trouble. 00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:56,000 And next week we will, Lord willing, finish out verse 41 00:42:56,000 --> 00:43:01,000 and go into chapter 18 and read some happy news. 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:06,000 We need that, don't we? Let's pray. 00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:09,000 Father, thank you for all who came, for our visitors, our members, 00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:13,000 for the people who tuned in online, for those who may watch it later on, 00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:17,000 the recorded version. 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:19,000 And Lord, we pray that your word would dwell in our hearts, 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:24,000 and that we'd meditate upon the truth that we've learned from it today. 00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:28,000 And as we go into the next hour, give liberty, Lord, 00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:32,000 to the ones who will sing, pray, to the pastor when he preaches. 00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:38,000 Help us to exhort one another in the faith, 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:41,000 and so much more as we see the day of Christ approaching. 00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:44,000 And we thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:48,000