Verse by verse teaching - 2 Kings 18:29(cont)

April 28, 2024 00:43:35
Verse by verse teaching - 2 Kings 18:29(cont)
Know Im Saved Bible Teaching - Book of 2 Kings
Verse by verse teaching - 2 Kings 18:29(cont)

Apr 28 2024 | 00:43:35

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Brother Andy Sheppard teaches verse by verse through the scriptures with the primary objective of communicating the Gospel of Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation, in a clear and simple light.

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Episode Transcript

The 10 o'clock hour is upon us. 00:00 --> 00:04 So let's turn to 2 Kings chapter 18 and verse 29. 00:04 --> 00:10 2 Kings 18 verse 29. 00:10 --> 00:14 Since I've been a child, I've always been a punctual person, 00:14 --> 00:22 and that probably irritates some people. 00:22 --> 00:25 But I like to start on time, particularly here, 00:25 --> 00:30 so that we don't miss a moment studying God's Word together. 00:30 --> 00:35 I like to start on time so people who have arrived on time 00:35 --> 00:38 are rewarded for their punctuality. 00:38 --> 00:41 And I know sometimes things are beyond our control, 00:41 --> 00:44 make us late like this rain, 00:44 --> 00:46 you might come up on a flooded passageway and have to turn around. 00:46 --> 00:50 That's happened before. 00:50 --> 00:52 So anytime somebody comes, I'm glad, whether they're on time or not. 00:52 --> 00:57 But whatever your case is today, 00:57 --> 01:00 welcome to the adult Bible study and to those who are online as well. 01:00 --> 01:05 And you should have arrived at your text by now, 01:05 --> 01:09 2 Kings chapter 18 verse 29, where we left off last week 01:09 --> 01:14 with Rab Sheikah, the Assyrian military leader, 01:14 --> 01:19 who was trying to convince Judah that their king was a deceiver. 01:19 --> 01:26 Rab Sheikah was, as we alluded to last week, 01:26 --> 01:31 hoping that he was talking to a bunch of milk-drinking Jews 01:31 --> 01:37 who would be easily deceived by his words. 01:37 --> 01:42 And last week we ended by talking about milk-drinking Christians, didn't we? 01:42 --> 01:48 Which all of us are when we're born again. 01:48 --> 01:51 Every one of us. Thank God for that. 01:51 --> 01:54 But as a baby grows and moves on to solid foods, 01:54 --> 01:59 so a child of God should grow and move on to what the Bible calls strong meat. 01:59 --> 02:06 And the more you grow in God's Word, 02:06 --> 02:09 the less a deceiver like Rab Sheikah can do to derail you with his lies. 02:09 --> 02:17 I mentioned to you last week that while milk is easy to drink, 02:17 --> 02:22 strong meat is not. That's because we don't drink strong meat. 02:22 --> 02:26 We have to chew it a lot. 02:26 --> 02:28 Even a good steak, you've got to chew it quite a bit 02:28 --> 02:31 to make it where you can swallow it. 02:31 --> 02:33 So it's hard work. 02:33 --> 02:34 And that's why you have to study, which is also hard work. 02:34 --> 02:39 And I'm thankful that the people here expect pastors and teachers 02:39 --> 02:45 who study the Bible. 02:45 --> 02:48 Because if you come in here and you get starved to death 02:48 --> 02:51 one Sunday morning or Wednesday night, 02:51 --> 02:54 we will have failed you and we will have failed the calling 02:54 --> 02:58 that God has put on our lives. 02:58 --> 03:03 If you're a milk-drinking Christian, whether you're a new believer 03:03 --> 03:06 or you just haven't grown in the Bible, 03:06 --> 03:09 you're going to be easy to deceive. 03:09 --> 03:12 And this is one of the reasons that I read the spiritual things, 03:12 --> 03:17 the comments that sometimes our members 03:17 --> 03:20 or those to whom we've ministered put on Facebook. 03:20 --> 03:24 And I'll look at the posts that they share and what they subscribe to. 03:24 --> 03:28 It tells me a lot about where somebody may be in their walk. 03:28 --> 03:33 We all put the suit on in here, don't we? 03:33 --> 03:36 But when we get outside, when we leave here 03:36 --> 03:39 and we get on our phones or go to work, 03:39 --> 03:42 that's where our true colors show. 03:42 --> 03:45 That's where people find out if we're the real thing or not. 03:45 --> 03:49 And occasionally when I see a message or a comment on Facebook 03:49 --> 03:53 by one of those people I mentioned, I'll message them privately, 03:53 --> 03:57 or I may comment on the error that I saw about what they posted 03:57 --> 04:03 or the person to whom they subscribe to. 04:03 --> 04:07 Sometimes people will subscribe or post something. 04:07 --> 04:11 They'll share something from a heretic and they don't know it. 04:11 --> 04:14 They don't realize it because they're still on milk 04:14 --> 04:17 and they haven't been able to find this error 04:17 --> 04:22 because they don't know their Bibles well. 04:22 --> 04:25 And I like to do it privately or discreetly if it's public, 04:25 --> 04:29 but my intent in doing that is never to harm or embarrass anybody. 04:29 --> 04:33 It's to protect our milk drinkers. 04:33 --> 04:36 Whether they be brand new Christians or Christians 04:36 --> 04:39 who just never have graduated to strong meat 04:39 --> 04:42 because that's where we want to get everybody. 04:42 --> 04:44 And we have God's Word, we have His Spirit, 04:44 --> 04:47 and we have the gifts that He's given His teachers. 04:47 --> 04:50 And if you have attentive listeners and people who believe God's Word 04:50 --> 04:54 and want to grow into faith, the devil cannot interrupt that process. 04:54 --> 04:58 If all of that's in place, we love our people 04:58 --> 05:01 and we are very protective of our new believers. 05:01 --> 05:05 Now they're on milk because they've just been born, born again. 05:05 --> 05:09 And we don't want the devil putting false doctrine 05:09 --> 05:12 into their impressionable minds. 05:12 --> 05:15 Now if you're a strong meat-eating Christian, 05:15 --> 05:18 like these three representatives from Judah were, 05:18 --> 05:22 who sat on the wall and listened to Rabshikah the Assyrian try to fool them, 05:22 --> 05:27 if you're like those three men, 05:27 --> 05:30 then you're not worried about yourself being fooled 05:30 --> 05:35 by the words of someone like Rabshikah. 05:35 --> 05:39 Did you know that the way to get there 05:39 --> 05:42 is through consistent, systematic teaching of God's Word? 05:42 --> 05:49 That's what strengthens your faith 05:49 --> 05:51 and that's what increases your knowledge of the Bible. 05:51 --> 05:55 And those go hand in hand and they don't happen overnight, do they? 05:55 --> 05:59 So whenever we urge you to be faithful to church, 05:59 --> 06:04 faithful in your Bible study, your own Bible study, 06:04 --> 06:08 in prayer, in giving, witnessing, holy living, 06:08 --> 06:12 please don't think we're nagging. 06:12 --> 06:14 That's what we're supposed to do. 06:14 --> 06:16 Because as strongly as we urge you, 06:16 --> 06:18 God's Word urges us to do it too, in fact to be that example. 06:18 --> 06:23 What we're urging you to do is become strong meat-eating Christians. 06:23 --> 06:28 So that you will not be shaken by the Rabshikas of this world. 06:28 --> 06:33 You ever wonder, maybe you don't sit around and wonder things like this, but I do. 06:33 --> 06:38 What would happen if the pastor and I, God forbid, 06:38 --> 06:42 took us out in the same accident and we weren't here anymore? 06:42 --> 06:46 We went to be with him. What would the church do? 06:46 --> 06:50 Well, I would like to think that the church has enough 06:50 --> 06:53 strong meat-eating Christians in it to say, 06:53 --> 06:56 "Well, we'll either have a pastor from among the people who are here 06:56 --> 06:59 if God's given that gift, or we'll find one 06:59 --> 07:01 and we'll know what to look for in that pastor 07:01 --> 07:04 because we eat strong meat around here. 07:04 --> 07:07 And we won't just bring in the first guy who can get up here 07:07 --> 07:10 and preach a sugar-stick sermon that he's practiced a hundred times over 07:10 --> 07:14 and make everybody sound good to everybody. 07:14 --> 07:18 We want somebody who knows their doctrine, their Bible. 07:18 --> 07:22 And I believe that would happen here. 07:22 --> 07:24 But if you had a pastor over a church and all he did is give him milk the whole time, 07:24 --> 07:28 what happens when that pastor leaves or dies or is incapacitated? 07:28 --> 07:32 Well, that church will fall for a wolf, won't they? 07:32 --> 07:35 It'll be easy. 07:35 --> 07:37 And Rabshekah was trying to find those kinds of people to talk to. 07:37 --> 07:41 That's why he wanted to speak to these Jews in their language 07:41 --> 07:46 rather than in the Syrian language. 07:46 --> 07:49 Now, let's look at the second part of verse 29 here, 07:49 --> 07:52 2 Kings 18 and verse 29. 07:52 --> 07:56 In fact, I'll read the whole verse. 07:56 --> 07:58 This is what Rabshekah said to the representatives of Judah. 07:58 --> 08:02 "Thus saith the king." 08:02 --> 08:03 Now, he's talking about his own king, that's Sennacherib. 08:03 --> 08:08 "Let not Hezekiah deceive you, 08:08 --> 08:11 for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand." 08:11 --> 08:16 Now, let's make sure those pronouns make sense. 08:16 --> 08:20 "Thus saith the king," that's Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, 08:20 --> 08:24 "let not Hezekiah," of course that's the king of Judah, 08:24 --> 08:27 "deceive you." 08:27 --> 08:29 Those are the Jews. 08:29 --> 08:30 "For he," that's Hezekiah, 08:30 --> 08:33 "shall not be able to deliver you," the Jews, "out of his hand." 08:33 --> 08:36 Out of whose hand? 08:36 --> 08:37 Out of Sennacherib's hand, okay? 08:37 --> 08:40 Sometimes the pronouns don't make sense if we haven't followed the entire chapter here. 08:40 --> 08:47 So, look at this part, 08:47 --> 08:50 "For he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand." 08:50 --> 08:53 This is a claim that Rabshekah made. 08:53 --> 08:57 He said, no matter what Hezekiah tells you, 08:57 --> 09:00 he will not be able to deliver Judah out of the hand of Sennacherib. 09:00 --> 09:07 Now, taking this whole verse into account, 09:07 --> 09:14 Rabshekah is essentially telling these Jews, 09:14 --> 09:18 "If Hezekiah told you he can deliver you out of King Sennacherib's hands, he's a liar." 09:18 --> 09:24 Now, that's his message to these representatives of the king. 09:24 --> 09:29 And Rabshekah, just like any other worldly leader, 09:29 --> 09:35 makes a false assumption here. 09:35 --> 09:38 He supposes that this battle will be only between the arm of flesh, which is Assyria, 09:38 --> 09:46 and the arm of flesh, which is Judah. 09:46 --> 09:51 He thinks those are the only two entities, representatives, in this battle. 09:51 --> 09:59 And in fact, this usually is the case 09:59 --> 10:03 when one country's military takes on another country's military. 10:03 --> 10:09 And I'll tell you one that's fresh on our minds right now, 10:09 --> 10:12 two of them actually, Russia and Ukraine. 10:12 --> 10:15 You have the arm of flesh of Russia and the arm of flesh of Ukraine, 10:15 --> 10:19 and they're trying to beat each other. 10:19 --> 10:21 You have another one there in Israel. 10:21 --> 10:23 You have the arm of flesh of Israel, 10:23 --> 10:25 and you have the arm of flesh of their enemies, which are many, 10:25 --> 10:28 but particularly Hamas and Hezbollah, 10:28 --> 10:32 and of course Iran being their sponsors. 10:32 --> 10:36 But all of those are battles between the arm of the flesh, 10:36 --> 10:41 because not one of them has turned to the Lord God, 10:41 --> 10:46 submitted themselves to him, so that he will fight their battles for them. 10:46 --> 10:51 And so Sennacherib has discounted any involvement by the Lord. 10:51 --> 10:56 In fact, he's going to mock the Lord in a few more verses here. 10:56 --> 11:01 here now I want you to think back remember a few weeks ago we read from 11:01 --> 11:07 Second Chronicles chapter 32 because in 2nd Chronicles as you know or may not 11:07 --> 11:13 know those passages there those accounts there will parallel the accounts in the 11:13 --> 11:21 Kings so you know how the gospels do Matthew Mark Luke and John you'll read 11:21 --> 11:26 Matthew and then you'll read Mark and Luke then John you'll say hey I've seen 11:26 --> 11:30 that before I saw that back in Luke or I saw it in Matthew that's right you have 11:30 --> 11:36 different accounts of some of the same events that took place well you also see 11:36 --> 11:41 that when you study first and second Kings first and second Chronicles and in 11:41 --> 11:46 fact second Chronicles 32 gave us some more details about what was going on 11:46 --> 11:50 during the time we're reading about right here and so one of the things we 11:50 --> 11:55 read was that Hezekiah told his captains his military captains speaking of 11:55 --> 12:04 Sennacherib the king of Assyria Hezekiah told his captains with him is an arm of 12:04 --> 12:12 flesh but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles so 12:12 --> 12:21 Rab sheikah is counting on his arm of flesh to defeat Judah's arm of flesh and 12:21 --> 12:30 if that were all that was in this battle Judah's arm of flesh in Assyria's arm of 12:30 --> 12:37 flesh then Assyria would win hands down they have the bigger army they just took 12:37 --> 12:42 care of Samaria which is Israel the northern kingdom so after hearing what 12:42 --> 12:49 Hezekiah told his captains you might actually think well this battle consists 12:49 --> 12:55 of Assyria's arm of flesh on one side and on Judah's arm of flesh and God on the 12:55 --> 13:03 other side and that's not the case I get this God did not team up with Judah's 13:03 --> 13:11 arm of flesh so they could have victory over Assyria he didn't team up with them 13:11 --> 13:19 he fought for them he was the team Judah was just the beneficiary in fact I'll 13:19 --> 13:28 read that verse again from 2nd Chronicles 32 8 it says with him is an 13:28 --> 13:34 arm of flesh but with us you hear that word but but with us is the Lord our God 13:34 --> 13:40 and when the word but is used in the sentence it means there's a contrast 13:40 --> 13:46 between what came before the word but and what came after it what was before 13:46 --> 13:53 the word but arm of flesh what was after the word but the Lord our God they're 13:53 --> 13:59 two different entities in other words Judah's battle according just to the 13:59 --> 14:07 structure of that sentence Judah's battle will be fought without them having an 14:07 --> 14:13 arm of flesh at all it will be the Lord their God versus the arm of flesh of 14:13 --> 14:21 Assyria now that puts it in a whole different perspective doesn't it now 14:21 --> 14:27 we're going to have a different winner than you may have supposed if you 14:27 --> 14:31 thought it was Judah against Assyria and no one else did God need Judah's help 14:31 --> 14:37 to defeat Assyria no he did not does God need the help of the arm of flesh to 14:37 --> 14:47 deliver people from their spiritual enemies because that's what we learn 14:47 --> 14:52 about when we learn about the wars and the enemies of Judah and Israel we're 14:52 --> 14:57 learning spiritual truths too aren't we God delivered them from physical 14:57 --> 15:01 enemies he delivers us from spiritual enemies that's the way the Old Testament 15:01 --> 15:06 does it teaches us the New Testament the New Testament tells us what the Old 15:06 --> 15:09 Testament was trying to teach us and if that's the way you study your Bible the 15:09 --> 15:13 light will come on when there is there appears to be darkness in your study God 15:13 --> 15:20 doesn't need the help of the arm of flesh for anything particularly not to 15:20 --> 15:26 deliver us from our spiritual enemies listen to what Paul wrote about our 15:26 --> 15:32 victory over sin after all a victory is what but the opponents are trying to 15:32 --> 15:39 fight for aren't they listen to what he says and write down if you will in your 15:39 --> 15:43 notes first Corinthians 15 verses 52 through 57 first Corinthians 15 verses 15:43 --> 15:55 52 through 57 now listen to how we get this victory in a moment in the 15:55 --> 16:04 twinkling of an eye at the last Trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead 16:04 --> 16:07 shall be raised incorruptible do they get themselves up no it says they shall be 16:07 --> 16:13 raised and we shall be changed do we change ourselves no we don't we shall be 16:13 --> 16:18 changed for this corruptible the body must put on incorruption and this mortal 16:18 --> 16:25 must put on immortality so when this corruption shall have put on 16:25 --> 16:29 incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality then shall be brought 16:29 --> 16:34 to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory Oh death 16:34 --> 16:39 where is thy sting Oh grave where is thy victory the sting of death is sin and 16:39 --> 16:45 the strength of sin is the law but thanks be to God which giveth us the 16:45 --> 16:50 victory through our Lord Jesus Christ now that passage reinforces that God 16:50 --> 16:56 doesn't team up with us so that we can beat the devil he gives us the victory 16:56 --> 17:02 through Jesus Christ if you're a believer what is the only thing you can 17:02 --> 17:07 do to have that victory that's to rest in it isn't it they say Jesus fought that 17:07 --> 17:12 battle for me at Calvary and that's how I have the victory I wasn't even there 17:12 --> 17:17 physically but I was on the cross I was on him all of my sins were on him he gave 17:17 --> 17:23 me the victory I didn't do anything in that passage I read you there it said 17:23 --> 17:29 that we shall be raised and we shall be changed now both of those phrases are 17:29 --> 17:35 written in the passive voice that means that the person who is affected by them 17:35 --> 17:39 didn't do anything shall be changed shall be raised we do nothing to contribute 17:39 --> 17:47 our being raised from the dead we're dead what can a dead person do we do 17:47 --> 17:55 nothing to change our mortal bodies that is the ones that die into immortal bodies 17:55 --> 18:01 we can't do that because we're dead it's done by us or excuse me done to us by 18:01 --> 18:12 another all of that is done to us by another and that is the Lord Jesus 18:12 --> 18:17 Christ it's not done through the arm of flesh that's why it's so important to 18:17 --> 18:22 learn about this battle between Assyria and Judah Judah was not going to win 18:22 --> 18:29 this by the arm of the flesh they were not it was going to be the Lord their 18:29 --> 18:33 God who gave them this victory whether he used however he used them or not it 18:33 --> 18:38 was the Lord their God who would gave them who would give them the victory 18:38 --> 18:41 he's the one who fought for them and as we read in first Corinthians 15 it was 18:41 --> 18:47 not us but the Lord our God who gave us the victory over death who gave us the 18:47 --> 18:52 victory over mortality which is essentially that propensity we have to 18:52 --> 18:57 die we're gonna die because we're mortals we're gonna die because we're corrupt he 18:57 --> 19:04 gave us the victory over that 19:04 --> 19:08 Benny hen claimed that a man was raised from the dead at one of his meetings in 19:08 --> 19:15 Africa he claimed he had a certain anointing and if you questioned it he 19:15 --> 19:21 said I curse you and he said that anointing would allow him to raise 19:21 --> 19:28 people from the dead well he's a liar he's a liar not only because that didn't 19:28 --> 19:33 happen but in Benny hen's case he was operating in the arm of the flesh and he 19:33 --> 19:46 can do nothing who is it that has the power to raise from the dead it's God 19:46 --> 19:53 now when God raised people through the dead or from the dead through his prophet 19:53 --> 20:00 Elisha that's one example it was still him who did it Elisha didn't give that 20:00 --> 20:07 young boy life when he spread himself over it was God who gave him life if 20:07 --> 20:13 Elisha would have walked in there in the arm of the flesh and said watch this 20:13 --> 20:18 guys kind of like Moses did the second time he hit the rock he did that in the 20:18 --> 20:23 flesh didn't he when he threw the tables down he did that in the flesh and when 20:23 --> 20:30 he was angry enough to kill that Egyptian smiting the Hebrew he did that 20:30 --> 20:34 in the flesh all of those things were done in the flesh even though Moses was 20:34 --> 20:38 a man of God now I'm not going to sit here and tell you Benny hens a man of 20:38 --> 20:41 God I do not think he is based on his own claims his own words and what the 20:41 --> 20:46 Word of God says and although God has used men to perform miracles boy we see 20:46 --> 20:54 it all in the Bible he doesn't need men to perform miracles he does that for us 20:54 --> 20:59 in fact not only does God not need men to perform miracles but we need him to 20:59 --> 21:06 perform miracles we need him to do that and boy the much of the religious world 21:06 --> 21:12 is so hung up on being able to see something but we want to we're going to 21:12 --> 21:15 this healing meeting over here because we're gonna watch this pastor heal the 21:15 --> 21:19 sick we're going to this meeting over here because we're gonna watch this 21:19 --> 21:24 pastor make people rich I always said this about Oral Roberts fella if you 21:24 --> 21:29 have the gift of healing why do you have a hospital named after you go in there 21:29 --> 21:33 and heal everyone of them and shut that thing down make those doctors go out and 21:33 --> 21:36 do something else for a living you see it's in the arm of the flesh that all of 21:36 --> 21:41 these have tried to do what they call God's work and although God has used the 21:41 --> 21:48 armies of men to defeat his enemies God did not need Judah's army to help him 21:48 --> 21:57 win this battle against Assyria and until religious men and women decide to trust 21:57 --> 22:04 God to deliver them from their enemies they're going to continue to depend on 22:04 --> 22:08 the arm of flesh and sooner or later that arm of flesh is going to fail them 22:08 --> 22:14 isn't it it happens every time let me tell you what makes it so hard to 22:14 --> 22:19 convince people of this truth about God being the one who delivers you from your 22:19 --> 22:24 enemies I'll give you an example I have a longtime friend who's a Christian and 22:24 --> 22:33 about 20 years ago he and I were eating lunch together and he shared with me 22:33 --> 22:40 that he was having some problems with depression and I shared with him how I 22:40 --> 22:47 knew how he felt that in my lifetime before then I had had those kinds of 22:47 --> 22:54 problems and it was because I was away from the Lord there was no secret to me 22:54 --> 22:59 about why I was struggling I wasn't studying my Bible and praying and 22:59 --> 23:05 depending on God for my daily needs I was I was like a lot and so I suggested 23:05 --> 23:13 to my friend that this may be what was leading him to his own depression and he 23:13 --> 23:19 quietly meditated on that and I thought well praise the Lord and I prayed for 23:19 --> 23:23 him and hoped that God would just show him that road back to him well the 23:23 --> 23:29 following week I saw this friend again and he said he was he seemed so happy 23:29 --> 23:34 he said Andy I figured out what caused my depression I said what was that he 23:34 --> 23:38 said I hadn't been getting enough sleep and my heart sank he said he slept so 23:38 --> 23:45 well that weekend after we talked that he was no longer depressed and I was so 23:45 --> 23:51 disheartened because I knew that my friend was away from the Lord I know 23:51 --> 23:57 what that looks like and I was disheartened because he'd written off the 23:57 --> 24:02 possibility that his depression was from a break in fellowship with God several 24:02 --> 24:09 good nights sleep made him feel better what is that that's the arm of flesh 24:09 --> 24:13 isn't it to make you feel better for a little while so he assumed that the 24:13 --> 24:18 cause of his depression was a lack of sleep well fast forward to about a year 24:18 --> 24:23 ago been a long time since I'd seen my friend this friend and I met for lunch 24:23 --> 24:27 tried to catch up and before we began to eat our meal he said Andy could we pray 24:27 --> 24:34 I'm a lot closer to God than I used to be and boy I was shocked and I said yes 24:34 --> 24:39 sir we may so we prayed and ate and guess what most of our conversation was 24:39 --> 24:45 about this time it was about the Lord it was about the Bible and my friend and 24:45 --> 24:50 his church and his spiritual growth and how much he loved going to church with 24:50 --> 24:55 his wife and I was so happy but can you imagine if my dear friend had turned to 24:55 --> 25:02 the Lord for his depression 20 years ago if he'd have said you know what yes I 25:02 --> 25:07 need to get a good night's sleep but that's not really the root of my problem 25:07 --> 25:11 but he turned to his pillow instead of the Lord but I'm thankful that he turned 25:11 --> 25:16 to the Lord instead of his pillow later on the arm of flesh will not only fail 25:16 --> 25:21 you but it'll also fool you when you have a spiritual problem and Judah did 25:21 --> 25:28 didn't they what before he's a kai they were in bad shape and so was Israel but 25:28 --> 25:36 when you have a spiritual problem and you make some kind of radical change in 25:36 --> 25:40 your daily life like beginning a healthy diet or sleeping eight hours a night or 25:40 --> 25:45 maybe an exercise program and so on those things may make you feel better in 25:45 --> 25:51 fact exercise releases endorphins in your body to make you feel good it 25:51 --> 25:56 really does I can testify to that so you do feel better but those things are not 25:56 --> 26:02 the solutions to your spiritual problems they're good things to do but that's not 26:02 --> 26:08 what's going to solve your spiritual problem your spiritual enemy is more 26:08 --> 26:13 powerful than you are don't ever forget that so when you try to take him on with 26:13 --> 26:19 the arm of flesh you're going to lose every single time turn to the Lord your 26:19 --> 26:24 God just like Hezekiah told his captains he'll never fail you and he'll never 26:24 --> 26:30 fool you by the way now look back at this phrase in the text we're in still 26:30 --> 26:36 in verse 29 it says at the very end he shall not be able to deliver you out of 26:36 --> 26:46 his hand out of his hand that's what I want us to look at for just a moment 26:46 --> 26:51 now this phrase out of his hand makes a supposition there's an assumption there 26:51 --> 26:59 it strongly implies something and what it implies very strongly is that Judah 26:59 --> 27:05 is in his hand in whose hand in Sennacherib's hand the head of the enemy 27:05 --> 27:11 the Assyrian king just like Pharaoh was to the children of Israel Sennacherib is 27:11 --> 27:22 also a representative of Satan to the people of Judah he is their enemy and 27:22 --> 27:29 Rabshika is his spokesman now why would Rabshika say that Judah was in Sennacherib's 27:29 --> 27:38 hand he said out of his hand that means you're in his hand after all for him to 27:38 --> 27:48 make a statement like that is awfully bold because Assyria had not yet begun 27:48 --> 27:54 to fight against Judah they had already taken Samaria but they had not yet begun 27:54 --> 28:00 to fight against Judah they counted their chickens before they hatched didn't 28:00 --> 28:04 they so how could Rabshika be so sure Judah was in Sennacherib's hand well 28:04 --> 28:13 we're gonna take that earthly lesson here that one's easy don't count your 28:13 --> 28:18 chickens before they hatch but we're gonna make the spiritual application 28:18 --> 28:22 here about the phrase out of his hand boy it's good too I just stopped in the 28:22 --> 28:28 middle of my study yesterday and thank God for showing me this let's learn 28:28 --> 28:33 something about our great enemy Satan because that's who Sennacherib 28:33 --> 28:36 represents all of Adam's race is born into sin we have a preference for sin we 28:36 --> 28:45 practice it willingly sin comes naturally to us as human beings because 28:45 --> 28:51 we're selfish creatures and if we're born in sin and we live in sin and we die 28:51 --> 28:58 in our sin what happens to us we go to hell and then the lake of fire with the 28:58 --> 29:03 devil and all of his angels in fact we don't have to change anything to be 29:03 --> 29:09 condemned he that believeth not is condemned already the judgments already 29:09 --> 29:14 been passed it's just waiting on time but he that believeth shall not come 29:14 --> 29:20 into condemnation that's ever she's not condemned now he that believeth is not 29:20 --> 29:24 condemned and in another passage says he shall not come into condemnation so as 29:24 --> 29:30 unbelievers now listen to this as unbelievers mankind is already in the 29:30 --> 29:37 hand of his enemy or his enemy sin Satan and death you're already there so just 29:37 --> 29:46 like Rabshika said Judah can't be delivered out of Sennacherib's hand he's 29:46 --> 29:52 saying y'all are already in his hand and this is a great spiritual truth when 29:52 --> 29:58 Jesus was talking to unbelieving Jews there in John chapter 8 and if you're 29:58 --> 30:06 gonna write the scripture down right John 8 44 and then a little letter a that 30:06 --> 30:12 means we are looking at the first part of that verse John 8 44 little letter a 30:12 --> 30:18 where Jesus is talking to some Jews and many of these are unbelievers and he said 30:18 --> 30:26 you are of your father the devil the lust of your father ye will do those 30:26 --> 30:34 Jews were in unbelief just like every person who has rejected the gospel of 30:34 --> 30:42 Jesus Christ they're in unbelief and because they were of their father the 30:42 --> 30:48 devil who is Satan they were already in his hand he said you're of your father 30:48 --> 30:55 the devil he could have said you're already in his hand he's already got 30:55 --> 30:59 you now listen to how we're in the hand of death or the grave Psalm chapter 89 30:59 --> 31:09 and verse 48 Psalm chapter 89 verse 48 what man is he that liveth and shall not 31:09 --> 31:21 see death shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave see law did you 31:21 --> 31:28 hear that the man who dies is in the hand of the grave his soul is in the hand of 31:28 --> 31:34 the grave shall he deliver it no but those who believe we can't deliver 31:34 --> 31:39 ourselves but that scripture in first Corinthians 15 said we shall be raised 31:39 --> 31:45 we shall be changed yeah that's good stuff right there brother Doug and this 31:45 --> 31:53 psalmist plainly declares that everyone who lives will see death physically 31:53 --> 31:58 speaking and he also clearly says that a dead person is in the hand of the grave 31:58 --> 32:03 and although rabshika appears to be speaking out of turn when he 32:03 --> 32:10 insinuates that Judah is in the hand of sonacra he's actually and probably 32:10 --> 32:15 unwittingly but God is using this to teach us a very important truth about 32:15 --> 32:21 our enemies there are three reasons that this truth is so important to understand 32:21 --> 32:27 maybe more but at least three that I was able to see one some people believe that 32:27 --> 32:35 everyone is in God's hand years ago a rock-and-roll singer died and I was 32:35 --> 32:41 speaking with a friend about it and this friend said that his wife told him even 32:41 --> 32:51 though dime bag Darrell that was his nickname I guess even though dime bag 32:51 --> 32:55 Darrell lived a raunchy life everyone is God's child see she thought the fact 32:55 --> 33:00 that he was born put him in God's hand and that's not true but it's what some 33:00 --> 33:06 people believe it's what people believe who say oh there's all kinds of ways to 33:06 --> 33:10 God you just have to find your own way to be acceptable and God is whoever you 33:10 --> 33:15 make him and boy it just goes off the rails when it goes away from the Bible 33:15 --> 33:19 doesn't in Galatians chapter 3 verse 26 Paul wrote for year all the children of 33:19 --> 33:27 God by faith in Christ Jesus so unless dime bag Darrell had his faith in Christ 33:27 --> 33:32 Jesus he was not and is not a child of God I certainly hope he put his trust in 33:32 --> 33:38 Jesus before he died but I don't know if he did or not and until you placed your 33:38 --> 33:43 faith in Jesus Christ his death burial and resurrection you were not a child of 33:43 --> 33:50 God you were in fact in the hand of sin Satan and death the grave and faith in 33:50 --> 33:58 the gospel of Jesus Christ is how you were delivered from the hand of your 33:58 --> 34:04 enemies into God's hands you get that picture and once you're in God's hand 34:04 --> 34:12 now you're not in your enemy's hand anymore are you once you're in God's 34:12 --> 34:16 hand you can never be in the hand of your enemy again ever in John chapter 10 34:16 --> 34:24 verses 27 through 29 very familiar verse to you perhaps John 10 27 through 29 34:24 --> 34:32 Jesus said my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give 34:32 --> 34:38 unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck 34:38 --> 34:43 them where out of my hand my father which gave them me is greater than all 34:43 --> 34:49 and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand you know Adam's race 34:49 --> 34:58 was not born into God's hand because of sin but Adams race may be born again into 34:58 --> 35:07 God's hand and from God's hand when Adams race is born again and is in God's hand 35:07 --> 35:15 he'll never be in the enemy's hand again so we just learn one reason this truth 35:15 --> 35:20 about already being in the enemy's hand is so important because there are some 35:20 --> 35:26 people who believe everybody's in God God's hand and that's not true the 35:26 --> 35:31 second reason is this or a second type of person is in this area is this some 35:31 --> 35:36 people believe that we're neither in the father's hand or in the devil's hand in 35:36 --> 35:44 fact there's a religious crowd pretty large by the way who says well you 35:44 --> 35:50 really can't know whose hand you're in until you stand before the judgment bar 35:50 --> 35:55 after you die you just go through this life and you go to church and you get 35:55 --> 36:00 baptized and if you need to be re-baptized you do that and if you sin 36:00 --> 36:04 and you get baptized again and try to obey the gospel by your works and and 36:04 --> 36:10 then you still won't know look at the obituary of a person who was a member of 36:10 --> 36:17 a church of Christ I don't mean the Lord's church like the Bible teaches I 36:17 --> 36:21 mean the so-called Church of Christ look at the obituary here's what you will 36:21 --> 36:25 normally never see Joe Smith went to be with the Lord today you know why because 36:25 --> 36:32 they're not real sure let's talk about how faithful he was and he led singing 36:32 --> 36:37 in the church and did all these things but they just leave that out in other 36:37 --> 36:42 words they're telling you we don't know whose hand he's in wouldn't that be 36:42 --> 36:46 terrible what a life what a miserable life to live not knowing whether you're 36:46 --> 36:53 in the father's hand or in the enemy's hand first John chapter 5 verses 11 36:53 --> 37:01 through 13 first John chapter 5 verses 11 through 13 this is why we can know we 37:01 --> 37:10 are in the father's hand he said and this is the record that God hath given to us 37:10 --> 37:16 eternal life now that is past tense right when you believe on Jesus Christ 37:16 --> 37:22 you have eternal life right then it's already given to you and this life is in 37:22 --> 37:27 his son he that hath the son hath life do you have the son by faith in him then 37:27 --> 37:33 you have life and he that hath not the son of God hath not life these things 37:33 --> 37:41 have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may 37:41 --> 37:44 know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the Son 37:44 --> 37:49 of God and I'm so thankful for this passage because it lets me know that 37:49 --> 37:54 eternal life hath or we would say has been given to me it's a done deal it's 37:54 --> 38:02 not something I hope to find out about after I die this passage tells me I have 38:02 --> 38:09 life and I have it right now not so much the physical life because that's going 38:09 --> 38:16 to go but the spiritual life and this passage tells me that these things were 38:16 --> 38:23 written so that I could know it right now not wait till after I die I can know 38:23 --> 38:29 whose hand I'm in right now I don't have to wait till after I die so when my 38:29 --> 38:34 obituary is written and as y'all know it's by the word so I'm not gonna pay 38:34 --> 38:37 much for it it's gonna be about that long Andy Shepard a servant of the Lord 38:37 --> 38:42 went to be with the Lord on this day and y'all can hear the rest at the funeral 38:42 --> 38:46 because that you know you can speak as much as you wanted a funeral but we 38:46 --> 38:50 don't want to put a bunch of words in the obituary that's because I know whose 38:50 --> 38:54 hand I'm in there's not anything about my life that needs to be said to accept 38:54 --> 38:59 that my faith was in Jesus Christ that's all that needs to be said and I know how 38:59 --> 39:04 funerals are we're gonna say things about our loved ones who've passed 39:04 --> 39:07 because we love them and we want people to have good memories of them and that's 39:07 --> 39:10 okay everybody does that a little bit differently but the truth is I don't 39:10 --> 39:16 have to wait to tell you whose hand I'm in in fact I'm in God's hand right now 39:16 --> 39:21 by my faith in Christ Jesus so you can go ahead and write that in there and if 39:21 --> 39:25 you want to pay for the obituary write as much as you want how's that for those 39:25 --> 39:32 in the Church of Christ and the Catholics and other people who believe 39:32 --> 39:35 like that I'm telling you you can know whose hand you're in right now you can 39:35 --> 39:41 God's Word says so so put your faith in Jesus and quit leaning on the arm of the 39:41 --> 39:46 flesh and then there's the third group of people and that is those who believe 39:46 --> 39:51 we're in our own hands those who believe we're in our own hands and that we then 39:51 --> 40:01 go to the hand of death now that's the atheist the atheist believes we live we 40:01 --> 40:10 die and that's it but God's Word tells us that it's appointed unto man wants to 40:10 --> 40:17 die but after this the judgment now the after this is the part the atheist 40:17 --> 40:21 denies they said there's no after this you die and you go to the ground and 40:21 --> 40:25 you've rewrought and then people talk about you and write books about you but 40:25 --> 40:28 that's it there's there's nothing else what a sad sad way to live you know we 40:28 --> 40:37 have at least two people who are who've been coming to our church who were 40:37 --> 40:41 atheists who have become Christians and if you ever wanted to talk to one of them 40:41 --> 40:48 about what that was like what what was it like to be an atheist spiritually 40:48 --> 40:52 speaking now you don't have to know all the sin none of us need to be talking 40:52 --> 40:56 about that what was it like spiritually to be an atheist and then what was it I 40:56 --> 41:01 want to know this and I'm gonna talk to him when they get done with this 41:01 --> 41:04 creation of Christ class or this Genesis to Jesus class what was it that turned 41:04 --> 41:10 you what part of God's Word what truth in there was it that made you say wait a 41:10 --> 41:16 minute ha that's true everything I believed is alive but that's true I want 41:16 --> 41:22 to know that Sheila calling her aha moment right your aha moment that's I'm 41:22 --> 41:26 not saying Sheila was an atheist but when she became a believer she said ah 41:26 --> 41:29 the light went on you know the Bible tells us that there will be a 41:29 --> 41:41 resurrection of the just and the unjust there will be a judgment seat of Christ 41:41 --> 41:50 for those who are believers there will be a great white throne judgment for 41:50 --> 41:54 those who are not those are two different judgments and those who are in 41:54 --> 42:00 Christ will go to be with him forever and the resurrection of the unjust will 42:00 --> 42:04 simply be the hand of the grave releasing the unbelievers into the hand 42:04 --> 42:09 of the lake of fire that's all that is now because rab sheikah was a worldly 42:09 --> 42:15 man he had no regard for the people of Judah as he spouted these lies he had no 42:15 --> 42:22 regard for the Lord their God and from an earthly perspective rab sheikah was 42:22 --> 42:29 correct in that Judah was already in the hand of the enemy Assyria but he had more 42:29 --> 42:38 regard for the arm of flesh of Assyria than for the Lord our God so he told 42:38 --> 42:44 Judah hezekiah will never be able to deliver Judah from the hand of Sennacher 42:44 --> 42:49 and when we meet back next week we'll pick up with verse 30 and continue 42:49 --> 42:55 looking at this liar this deceiver said rab sheikah let's pray father thank you 42:55 --> 43:02 so much for those who came and those who tuned in online those who will watch the 43:02 --> 43:06 recorded version later and father we pray that every truth that was spoken 43:06 --> 43:11 spoken will be maintained in our hearts Lord that will meditate upon it and not 43:11 --> 43:17 not forget it not toss it aside but let it build us up in the most holy faith 43:17 --> 43:22 and we ask that same Liberty for our pastor during the next hour pray that 43:22 --> 43:27 you would bless the singing the praying the fellowship and the study of your 43:27 --> 43:32 word in Jesus name amen 43:32 --> 43:36

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