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READING: Isaiah 36: 1-5 and 37:14 "Hezekiah ... went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD."
INTRODUCTION:
Compare development Nazi Germany to Assyrian empire.
Question: What do we do when faced by the Devil?
Answer: Spread it out before the Lord!
A/ LIES!
(Isaiah 36:4-10)
- Hope is in Egypt (v 4-6)
- God will not help (v 7)
- God told Assyria to (v 10)
Have you stood face to face with the devil?
Your hope based on unreliable book / lost your salvation / committed unpardonable sin / failure / cannot know saved / God never forgive you ...
But they are lies - cunning, wicked, damnable lies!
B/ FEAR!
(Isaiah 36:11-22)
Rabshakeh's strategy -
- create panic in ranks (v 4-6)
- undermine confidence in King (v 7)
- destroy faith in God (v 10)
Did you know we are in a spiritual war?
Weapons are faith vs. fear. Bible says "fear not" 366 times.
"Say to those with fearful hearts, Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you." (Isaiah 35:4)
Answer: Spread it out before the Lord!
C/ FAITH!
(Isaiah 37:1-20)
Faith is not a formula / mystical force / gift that ordinary people cannot do.
Hezekiah simply said it how it was - humbly - honestly.
How can we exercise faith when our distress is too great and our faith too small?
It is true ... cannot cope this crisis / save this marriage / pay this debt / overcome this weakness / do this task ...
Answer: Spread it out before the Lord!
CONCLUSION
Isaiah 37:36-37
