Bro Gary Sunday AM 2/27/11

Bro Gary Sunday AM 2/27/11

2 Chronicles 22:9 KJVR

(9)  And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him, (for he was hid in Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried him: Because, said they, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom.

He sought the Lord with all his heart.

2 Chronicles 20:1-4 KJVR

(1)  It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

(2)  Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.

(3)  And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

(4)  And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

We are so thankful to have the Word of God this morning.  I was reading about King James and those he gathered together to write this Word in the English language so that we could have this Word of God.  I read that 8 men died during this endeavor.  

Jehoshaphat feared God and God spoke His Word.  There has always been, since the beginning of time, an individual and a generation that would choose to seek God.  It encourages me to know that when history fails to record that God had a people at whatever time, God still had a people.  There is something in the majesty of God that there have always been those that sought after the true God.

Right amid those that were not worshipping the true God, Jehoshaphat chose to seek and worship the true God.  He had one desire and that was to seek the true God of Heaven.

2 Chronicles 20:5-6 KJVR

(5)  And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,

(6)  And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

You and I may not understand what is going on in the world, in our children’s hearts, in the heart of the soul that we are burdened for, on our job, or in our community or nation, but we know that God is still in control. 

One reason that God has placed you and me where we are is to give us the wonderful opportunity to seek God.  I’m not talking about just praying a little bit or gathering with whomever to chitchat.  I’m talking about doing as Jehoshaphat did and seeking God with all our heart.

2 Chronicles 20:7-9 KJVR

(7)  Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?

(8)  And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,

(9)  If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.

He said, “Oh God when trouble comes and we humble ourselves and seek your face, wilt Thou not see and help?”

2 Chronicles 20:10-13 KJVR

(10)  And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;

(11)  Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.

(12)  O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

(13)  And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

We see where Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation and let all the congregation know that “We really need help from God.”  It’s a wonderful thing when troubles surround us and we don’t look at the troubles.  It is good to realize that our savior will not come from human instrumentality.  

They found themselves in a situation where the numbers of the enemy way outweighed the numbers of the people.  The king and all the people stood before the Lord.  The husbands and wives, their little ones stood before God.  We are so blessed to be able to teach the little ones to stand before God and seek God.

2 Chronicles 20:14-15 KJVR

(14)  Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;

(15)  And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.

It is wonderful when God gives His servant the Word of God.  

The emphasis of this message is to not lessen or down play your battle or to act like there is no enemy out there.  The emphasis of this message is that the king began to seek God, the husbands, the wives, the little ones; all Judah began to seek God.

Beyond the shadow of any doubt when we allow the dismay of the situation that we are in to cause us to seek God, by seek God, I don’t mean to pray just a little bit or get together and have a chitchat, nor do I mean gathering all the great minds together and saying, “This is happening what can we do.”  I’m talking about realizing that God is our only help and seeking Him with all our heart.

He told the king to not be afraid or dismayed, ‘the battle is not yours, but Gods.’

2 Chronicles 20:16-18 KJVR

(16)  To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.

(17)  Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

(18)  And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.

This king positioned himself in the most humble position he could position himself.  The king!  He got on His knees and put his face clear down to the ground.  All the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell also before the Lord.

2 Chronicles 20:19 KJVR

(19)  And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

The only thing that had changed about the situation was that these people had sought God.  The king had sought God, the people had sought God.  The king was so moved that he got on his hands and knees and put his face to the ground.  The inhabitants of the land saw the king worshipping and they fell on their knees as well.  I believe the priests were on their knees worshipping as well.  Pretty soon, they stood up and began to praise and worship God, that God had sent His word. The armies were still gathered in force against them, but they were praising God for answering prayer.

If we seek God with our whole heart, (with the whole heart is the only way to worship God), It is ok to start praising God when he sends the promise even if the answer has not come yet.  When you have sought God and God sends his word, you may not know how God will work; His works always surprise us.  

You are not seeking God when you tell Him how you want Him to work.  When we seek God with all our heart, we must realize we don’t have all the answers or we will not be seeking God.  Realize also that you will not be able to manipulate the circumstances so that you will have the answers.  Realize that, “God, you know it all.  I’m just seeking your face.”

Those priests couldn’t stay on their knees, God had met with them.  There was something in their hearts that made them say, “I’ve got to praise God.”  They didn’t praised God in just a little whisper.

2 Chronicles 20:20-21 KJVR

(20)  And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

(21)  And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.

Whatever your battle is, whatever the enemy is using to war upon your mind, if you can follow the instructions and the pattern that Jehoshaphat and the children of Israel followed, where they worshipped and then arose and gave praise to God before the answer came, that is an act of faith.  

The king began to talk to the people and told them to begin to sing.  They had no way of knowing the effect their rejoicing was going to have on the enemy.  

If the enemy can get you to muddling around in the difficulties and trials, (we’re always going to have trials), then you will not be led to the victory.  When you get to the place where you take your hands off and you seek His face and when God sends His word, (His word cannot lie), then the victory will come.  Begin to sing and to praise the lord.

When they began to praise, the Lord sent ambushments and the enemy destroyed itself by fighting with itself.

2 Chronicles 20:22-23 KJVR

(22)  And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

(23)  For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

The king was a wise man; he took warning.  Wise men take warning.  The king sought God and God sent encouragement before victory.  The king and all the people began to worship God.  It wasn’t long and the priests were not able to stay on their knees.  God lifted their spirits and they began to praise God.

Psalms 24:6 KJVR

(6)  This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

Selah – stop and consider for this is confirmed.

Since the days of Adam there have always been a people that would consecrate themselves to seek God.

Psalms 24:1-3 KJVR

(1)  A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

(2)  For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

(3)  Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?

Who will be there to seek God with all of their heart?

Psalms 24:4 KJVR

(4)  He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

Those that are unsaved may not always tell you the truth.  Take warning!  If some disgruntle has something to say to you, don’t be unwise.  You’ll not be able to seek God if you don’t have clean hands.  No one that has bitterness or a bad attitude will ever get past just being religious.  If their heart is not right with God, they will only be religious.

All those things without the city of God are dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers as is stated in the book of Revelations.

Not lifted up soul unto vanity:  When you are visited with a spirit that impregnates your thinking that you have an edge on anyone.  We face this all the time, people think that they are above someone else.  People think that “I know something that poor whomever will never know.”  

Not sworn deceitfully:  People say, “oh yes”.  They say anything for advantage.  There is a generation that seeks His face.  These are individuals that refuse to lift themselves up.  Everyone has run into that spirit and if you have discernment then you recognize when it presents itself to you.

Psalms 24:5 KJVR

(5)  He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

God has many blessings for his people.  That individual that seeks God with all their heart will receive the double blessing that not only would they seek Him but they will find Him.  He further said that not only would they seek and find Him but He would also seek and fine them. 

Lamentations 3:25 KJVR

(25)  The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

God wants us to seek Him so that we have His favor and His grace for whatever situation we are in.

You don’t have to fail of the grace of God.  There is grace for you when you are among people that make you uncomfortable.  There is grace for you when you are disappointed in your children.  There is grace for you in every situation.

Those that seek God will enjoy His favor.  Have the grace of God; seek Him daily.

Psalms 24:6-10 KJVR

(6)  This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

(7)  Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

(8)  Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

(9)  Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

(10)  Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

We can be among the generation of the righteous if we will chose to seek God.

Selah means this is true; this is confirmed.

Matthew 7:7 KJVR

(7)  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Matthew 7:13-14 KJVR

(13)  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

(14)  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

The soul that wants to seek God must unload before they can go through the gate of seeking Him.  They may be loaded down with rebellion, with selfishness, with attitudes, with their own way; they want to seek God and tell Him all about themselves and their struggles.  God wants to tell them all about themselves.  

You cannot get through the gate all loaded down with a lot of things.  He wants us to seek Him and He wants us to seek Him in one way and that is with all of our heart.  

You might be in pain, in a financial straight, there may be someone watching you with a gun on you, you will never get through the gate if that is the first thing on your mind.  

You may have the attitude, “I don’t like how they worship around here.”  If God sent you here then you He has grace for you.  It doesn’t matter where you came from if God moves you here, He can feed you.    

Everyone needs to seek God.  If you are not in a position to seek God, if God in his mercy will deal with your soul, you say, “I’m going to get rid of this load.”  Then you can seek God.

There is just one thing that I’m going to do and that is to seek God and teach others to seek God.  There is a generation of those that will seek God and that is my Family.  One day I will go to meet my Family and I want to fit right in.  I want to be one of those that sought God, one that sought God in such a way that He came looking for me.  Those that sought God received His favor, His grace, the inspiration of the almighty upon the soul.