2 Chronicles 32-36, Reasons To Repent Swiftly

2 Chronicles 32-36, Reasons To Repent Swiftly
1. Repentance Is Needed To Finish Well 
(2 Chronicles 32:24-26)
2. Repentance Is Always Possible 
(2 Chronicles 33:1-16)
3. People You Stumble May Not Repent As Well As You (2 Chronicles 33:15-23)
4. You Do Not Have To Inherit Your The Sins Of Your Parents (2 Chronicles 34:1-3)
5. Foolishness Is Always Possible
(2 Chronicles 35:20-24)
6. Your Rebellion Hurts Everyone 
(2 Chronicles 36)

Pastor Jerry Simmons teaching 2 Chronicles 32-36, Reasons To Repent Swiftly

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This morning as we look at 2 Chronicles, I've titled the message reasons to repent swiftly, reasons to repent swiftly.

Repentance is such an important topic for us, and such an important one for us to understand and to really grasp hold of.

Well, now we might.

Think OK, well we're here at church on a Sunday morning.

And so you know, maybe repentance is more appropriate for the people who aren't at church on a Sunday morning, like those people who need to hear repentance, we're gathered together here.

We're seeking the Lord this morning, and so perhaps repentance is not so important for us, but that's not actually true that sometimes.

We have the idea in our mind that repentance is that one thing that we did a long time ago when we first believed in Jesus and of course repentance was involved.

At that time.

But repentance is not a one time thing for us, repentance is something.

That we will be.

Doing for the rest of our lives if.

We are walking with the Lord.

Repentance is going to be something that is really that we should be experts in because we do it so frequently in our relationship with the Lord.

The word repentance speaks about turning around and doing the opposite.

A good illustration of this if you want to dig into some.

Kind of practical examples.

Paul gives us an Ephesians chapter for some contrasts.

He says that we are to put away lying and instead speak.

Truth, and so you see, there's the stopping putting a stop to the sin of lying.

But it's not just stop lying now it's turn around and replace that behavior with.

Well, godly behavior with obedience, and that is the Speaking of the truth.

So it's not just stop lying.

It's not just stop moving forward in that's in.

That's part of it.

Stop, but then turn around.

But it's not just stop and turn around.

It stopped to turn around and move.

In the other.

Direction and speak the truth instead of lying.

Or he goes on to give the example of steel.

If you are stealing, if you are taking what doesn't belong to you, stop that, but don't just stop stealing.

Now go work earn so that you have your own resources and then that's not repentance yet either.

And then give to those who don't have so it's not repentance.

To just stop stealing and earn to provide for yourself.

That's not full repentance yet.

Full repentance is stop stealing.

Work to earn for yourself and.

Then give it's the reverse or the inverse, the opposite of the stealing is now the giving from the resources that you have earned yourself, and we could go on and on, but hopefully that helps you understand that that repentance is that turning around that replacing of that sinful behavior with obedient behavior.

Sometimes when it comes to the idea of repentance, we can have in our mind the idea that you know it's not really that easy to tell if there is real repentance.

You know that, well, we they?

We say we're repentant, but you know it's kind of like.

Well, we don't really know.

We can't really tell.

We can't really understand if repentance is there, but I would suggest to you that.

The Apostle Paul counters that thought in Second Corinthians Chapter 7.

When he is writing to the Corinthians to a church, by the way, a group of believers who needed to repent.

He had written to them in first Corinthians, with correction, calling them to repentance.

They did repent and Paul says it's clear that you repented by the things that are observable in you second Corinthians, Chapter 7, verse 10.

He says, godly sorrow produces repentance, leading to salvation not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death for observe this very.

Thing look you can.

Take note of it, you can observe it usoro it in a godly manner, it produced diligence, it produced indignation and the clearing of yourselves.

It produced fear and vehement desire and zeal.

He says in all things you proved yourself to be clear in this matter, it produced repentance and godly sorrow produced these clear reactions.

These clear, deliberate steps forward in obedience to God and, and so he says, it's observable that repentance has taken place in you.

And so repentance is visible.

It's observable, not always immediately, of course, and there are some cases where only God knows if repentance has really taken place.

But let's not put all repentance into that category and understand that that our lives should be an ongoing demonstration.

Of repentance of a deliberate step forward into obedience where at one time there was.

Disobedience and so reasons to repent swiftly.

We're going to work our way through the closing chapters of 2 Chronicles, looking at the final six generations of the nation of Judah, and we learn from each generation valuable things about repentance and good reminders for us.

As believers today we need to understand that the tendency is for us to run to sin.

And then to crawl to repentance.

Think about that we.

Run to sin, but but then when it comes time to repent, we're dragging our feet.

You know we're crawling, perhaps because we've been damaged by this in and the destruction that is brought but but we're reluctant to repent and I would suggest you as we look at these examples.

Let's be encouraged and stirred up and reminded we need to be.

Swift to repent, not ashamed to repent, not holding back, not running away from not dragging our feet, but.

But we should be quick running swiftly to repent.

Don't run to sin and cultural pendance crawled to sin.

Well, actually stay away from sin altogether.

But if you gotta go into sin crawl like avoid at all costs and then run back to repentance, right like?

Repenting swiftly is what we need to learn, and so we're going to look at a few examples here from the kings of Judah, the first king that we look at is has a.

Yeah, Hezekiah here in chapter 32 was a good king. We're jumping into the middle of his reign here in the chapter.

He did a lot of good for the Lord, brought about revival in the nation, but later on in his life he had a little bit of issues that he struggled with and.

That gives us point number one this morning as we talk about reasons to repent SWIFT.

Reason one is that repentance is needed to finish well, repentance is needed in order to finish well. Look at verses 24 through 26.

It says in those days Hezekiah was sick and near death, and he prayed to the Lord, and he spoke to him and gave him a sign.

But Hezekiah did not repay, according to the favor shown him.

For his heart was lifted up.

Therefore wrath was looming over him.

And over Judah and Jerusalem.

Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart.

He and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

This is the end of Hezekiah's life.

By this time he's been.

Really instrumental in bringing the nation back once again to the worship of God that the sacrifices at the temple, all the things that God had called them to, he had destroyed altars and removed idolatry.

He had done so much good for the Lord, but we find that near the end of his life he gets sick.

He's about to die on his deathbed.

He cries out to the Lord, and the Lord grants him additional time.

15 more years.

But there's a problem that develops in that time.

Hezekiah really allows pride to take a foothold in his heart.

He's so close to the finish line.

It's interesting as you walk through the kings of the Nation of Nations of Israel and Judah.

When there is a good king, it's most often the case that they don't actually finish.

They start good if they're good, right?

They clean up the nation, but very often at the end of their life.

They have wandered away from the Lord.

Solomon is a good example of that.

Solomon started out calling out to the Lord, relying on God and receiving from God all the wisdom that was necessary for his reign.

But later on in his reign as he walks for a little bit.

His heart turned hard and he turned away from the Lord.

There's some reasons to consider and hope that Solomon really got his life right and back together with the Lord at the end of his life.

But it's not abundantly clear, and it's not for certain.

As you look through the Scriptures and so we can look at that and understand he he really didn't.

Finish well, he might have finished.

But finishing well is probably not the way to categorize that, and for many of the kings of the nation of Judah, they did not finish well.

Some of them started well, but very few were right with the Lord and and still instrumental in the things of the Lord at the end.

Of their reign, and Hezekiah here is about to fall into that same pattern.

In his extra time that God gave him, it says in verse 25 he did not repay according to the faint favor shown, him God bless him.

God did something good for him, but Hezekiah did not take that time and say great.

Now I have more time to pursue the things of God, to glorify God.

Of my life to work out God's plans and purposes instead. During that time it says that his heart was lifted up.

He became prideful and and in his pride he began to operate on his own resources and against the things of God.

And so he's now in danger of judgment because his heart has turned from God.

His heart has focused on itself rather than the Lord.

He's in danger of judgment.

Until verse 26, then Hezekiah humbled himself.

For the pride of his heart.

Here we see repentance.

And in the end.

Finishes well.

Because at the end he came back.

He he recognized the issue of his heart, the pride of his heart, and he humbled himself before God, he repented.

He turned from that pride.

What's the opposite of pride?

Humility, he stopped behaving.

Pridefully he started behaving humbly, listening to the Lord submitted to the Lord.

So that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon him in the days of Hezekiah.

In the end, he finished well, but he barely.

The sabotage that was going to happen if he had continued in pride, repentance is needed in order to finish well, as you read through the accounts of the Bible, I would suggest that you would find you could come to the conclusion.

It's actually very hard to finish well.

It's quite rare.

To finish well.

To get to the end of your life.

However long that is that God provides for you to get to the end of your life and and be solid with the Lord and on fire for the Lord and right with the Lord.

It's it's fairly rare even in the examples we find in the scriptures.

It does not happen automatically.

And it does not happen without deliberate effort, and that's a challenge for us because.

When we are earlier on in that season of life, when we are in those days of passion for the Lord and an excitement for God.

We can look ahead and just imagine.

It's always going to get better in our relationship with the Lord.

It's always going to get easier to walk with the Lord and and it can be really hard for us to understand.

Why did these guys struggle later on in their lives?

Why is it so hard for them to finish?

Well, it doesn't make sense like it seems so easy.

You know.

Here I am.

Younger in the Lord, Younger in my walk through this life and finishing hard just doesn't seem to be that difficult.

But the reality is very different, and the fantasy that we imagine of how easy it's going to be in the future to walk with the Lord does not usually play out usually.

It is through deliberate effort and and great intention.

And real focus.

On the things.

Of the Lord.

With the same diligence that we had in the early days.

That will enable us to finish well.

And This is why we need to consider repentance.

Because we're not going to always have that same deliberate effort.

We're not always going to be pursuing the Lord.

With all of.

Our hearts there's areas of our lives that are gonna slip.

There's areas of our hearts that are gonna wander and and we need to continue to reel them back in and bring them back to submission.

To the Lord.

The reality is, everybody needs repentance, not just unbelievers.

But believers and a believer who is believed in the Lord and watch with the Lord for two years, needs repentance, the same as a believer who has watched with the Lord for 45 years needs repentance.

We need.

To take those areas of our lives that.

Kind of get a rogue idea rogue focus and begin to.

Wander from the things I've got and bring those back into submission.

Reasons to repent swiftly.

If Hezekiah did not repent swiftly.

He would not have finished well.

He would have finished his race.

He would have finished his reign.

In a state of rebellion and a state of disobedience.

And caused much more pain and difficulty upon him and the people.

Even the best of the best of the best examples of believers need repentance.

You look at David.

You look at Moses.

You look at Peter.

You look at Paul.

Well, strong believers, all of the you know, heroes of the faith need repentance.

And need to run to repentance swiftly and repeatedly.

In order to finish well, we are going to be exercising repentance over and over and over again because our hearts are prone to wander, we tend to run to sin and crawl to repentance.

But that is no way to finish well, we will not finish well.

Crawling to repentance.

The only opportunity that we have to finish well is to really set our eyes and take a deliberate course.

To run, to return to obedience and submission to God.

Well, continuing on in this subject of repentance, it gives us point #2. Now as we move on into Chapter 33 and that is that repentance is always possible, repentance is always.

These possible here we're going to look at Hezekiah's son as an example. His name is Manasseh and Manasseh, although he comes from a godly father.

Is the most wicked king the nation of Judah ever saw?

He reigned for a long time and he dove into great.

Wickedness check out verses one and two here in 2 Chronicles 33 it says Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king.

And he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem.

But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.

This guy Manasseh was not a good king.

He dove into great wickedness.

All of the wickedness that we kind of explored a little bit when we talked about the nation of Israel first coming into the land, driving out the inhabitants of the land because of the great wickedness.

The abominations it says here in verse two of.

What the Lord?

Had cast out before them.

Abominations, like child sacrifices, abominations like immorality, abominations that are not fit for us to describe in a public setting like this.

There there was great wickedness.

That was going on in the nation and Manasseh.

Says let's go back to that.

Let's go back to how wicked it was before.

We inhabited this land.

And let's repeat those sins.

Let's behave that way like the rest of the world.

Does around us.

And so, in this pursuit of great wickedness, he becomes the worst.

Of the worst verse, ten of 2 Chronicles 33 says. And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. What was God speaking?

He was speaking a call to repentance.

You're running on the path of wickedness, but that doesn't mean that God's given.

Up on manasseh.

Even though he has done these great and severe abominations, he's not done with Manasseh.

He's still speaking to him and calling him to repentance.

Verse 11 therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off.

To Babylon.

Now when he was in Affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly.

Before the God of his fathers, and prayed to him, and he received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his Kingdom.

Then Manasa knew that the Lord was God.

Here is Manasa the worst of the worst.

And God sending messengers to him, calling him to repentance.

And he says, no, I refuse to listen.

I won't receive that.

I'm going to continue on.

And the things that I.

Want to do?

So God sends a different kind of messenger.

The king of Assyria.

And Manasseh is conquered.

He's taken away as a captive in bronze shackles.

With a hook probably through his lip to lead him in the journey.

Incredible pain.

And humiliation.

As it gets carried off to Babylon.

But there from that place of captivity it says in verse 12.

He implored the Lord his God, and he humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

We wouldn't have been surprised if God had told Manasseh listen.

When you find yourself in chains and shackles and in captivity in a foreign land.

Don't come crawling back to me or come crying to me for help like you put yourself there.

I warned you I told you and you did it anyways and so don't you dare come back and expect anything from me.

We can expect God to say that, but what's interesting is that God doesn't say that.

Let this be a reminder that the worst of the worst.

Is not beyond the reach of God's mercy and grace.

Repentance is always possible.

No matter how far we've gotten, no matter how deep we've dug ourselves into wickedness and sin.

We are not so deep into sin that there is no opportunity for repentance.

While we have breath while we have this life, we have opportunity.

To humble ourselves before God.

And turn back to him.

And so Manasseh really becomes a great example of repentance, become because he comes from the the worst place.

But it tells us in verse 12 he humbled himself before God.

He humbled himself before God.

He submitted to God.

He received the instruction and correction of God.

He put God in his rightful place of exaltation in his mind and in his heart.

So that God's will was gonna be first, and God's word was going to be completed. He he put God first and humbled himself before the Lord.

And he called out to the Lord, and verse 13 it says, and he prayed to him and notice.

And he received his entreaty.

That is, God heard his prayer.

God heard his prayer.

God hears the prayer of repentance of the most wicked people who ever live if they will call out to God.

He hears.

He responds.

As we humble ourselves before him and call out to him.

But but we also see this pattern of repentance in Manasseh, in that he goes back home.

The Lord sets him free out of captivity, incredible like we only get this like in like just this little summary, right?

But the whole story of what actually happened.

Here must have been like I can't wait to hear that story.

It's not.

The full details are not recorded for us in the scripture, but I'm sure in heaven we're going to hear like the incredible story of the events that played out for him to be set free from Babylon, journey back to Jerusalem resumed the throne and now he tries to.

The great damage he's done to the nation in leading them to rebellion.

Check out verse 15.

He took away the foreign gods and the idol from the House of the Lord and all the altars that he had built in the amount of the House of the Lord and in Jerusalem.

And he cast them out of the city.

He also repaired the altar of the Lord, sacrificed peace offerings, and thinks offerings.

On it and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.

Here you can see repentance, it's observable.

He doesn't just stop.

Practicing idolatry, he goes back and he does the opposite of what he had been doing before.

Instead of building idols, he's now tearing them down.

Instead of defiling the Temple of God, he's now cleaning up the Temple of God instead of leading people into idolatry and sin and giving them that example and that freedom.

Now he's commanding them to serve.

The Lord.

He's repairing the altar of the Lord and sacrificing peace, offering and things offerings.

He's he's re engaging in a real relationship with God.

In the depth of prison receiving exactly what he deserved for his sinfulness.

It would be easy to picture repentance being impossible.

That kind of restoration, that kind of changed that kind of turn around.

We could easily count it as impossible and not even seek it out, not even inquire of it.

But repentance is always possible nobody.

Is so far gone that they can't turn humble themselves before God call out to him.

And begin to live the life.

That God is calling them to do.

Well, moving onto point #3, we're going to stick in Chapter 33 for a couple more moments. Point #3 is that people you stumble may not repent as well as you.

Here's a really important reminder for why we should repent swiftly.

Because every one of us.

We don't just live in isolation all by ourselves.

But we interact with people around us and our faithfulness to the Lord plays a huge part in our interactions with the people around us as well as our unfaithfulness to the Lord.

It impacts.

The people around us.

And sometimes there is this idea in mind that, well, I know God really doesn't want this.

You know, I know it's not the best.

It's not the greatest thing, but it's only my life.

It's only hurting me.

It's only affecting me.

You know, we have those kinds of things and and we have sometimes the plan to repent.

And the idea that, well, it's OK 'cause there's grace and you know I just got to get this out of my system.

And and then there's going to be a turning back.

And you know next season of my life it's going to be easier to walk with the Lord this way and and so sometimes there can be this.

Engagement in the things that are not of God.

With the expectation later on, I'm going to make things right.

Later on I'm going to turn and clean up.

And get right with God.

And that sounds like.

A good plan, except for one thing is.

That later on is not really guaranteed.

You may not actually have that opportunity, so that's a problem.

So repent swiftly for that reason, but.

But here looking.

At Manasseh, something that stood out as I was reading through it.

This time was that.

Manasseh LED a lot of people into sin.

He affected a lot of people and they they rebelled against God along with him, and he turned back and it's this incredible story of repentance and restoration.

But everyone around him.

Did not turn back to the Lord to the same degree that he did.

Check out verses 15 through 17 here.

It says he took away the foreign gods, the idol from the House of the Lord, and all the alters that he had built on the mount of the House of the Lord and in Jerusalem.

And he cast them out of the city.

He also repaired the altar of the Lord, sacrificed peace offerings and drink offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.

Verse 17 nevertheless, the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the Lord their God.

Manasseh comes back and he's radically changed.

He is transformed, he's doing.

Like to a surprising degree, the opposite of what he had been doing before.

And now he calls the nation to join with.

Him in that.

And they comply.

To a certain degree.

But verse 17 points out they still sacrifice on the high places.

Now with the note that it was only to the Lord, they weren't sacrificing to the idols anymore, but sacrificing on the high places was still an issue.

It was not evidence of full repentance.

It's evidence of half heartedness.

Because God had still called them to sacrifice.

He said all the sacrifices that you offer are to happen at the temple.

You're to go to the temple and there where I've chosen to put my.

Name that's where you should.

Sacrifice to me right?

And so here the people.

They're half hearted.

They're they're mixed in their obedience.

And really, what?

They're on the verge of is immediately turning back.

So that once Manasa in his renewed you know passion for the Lord, once he's off the scene.

They don't have to change anything.

They keep going to their high places and are primed and ready to go in the worship of idolatry once again.

And so great for monessa that he repented and came back with great passion and zeal, and turned his life around.

But all of the people that he influenced and let he lead the way he.

Led the charge alright guys.

Let's go, let's run into sin.

All of the people that were involved in that.

Did not come.

To the same.

Degree of repentance that Manasseh experienced.

So when Manasseh leaves them, they're still incredibly vulnerable.

And they're going to dive right back into sin.

As soon as his influence.

Is out of the way.

This is the reality that.

We need to come to terms with.

When you are unfaithful to the Lord.

When you allow sin to dominate in your life and allow disobedience to pretend to continue and persist.

It doesn't just affect you.

Even if you're not, you know announcing with a a bullhorn, saying, hey everybody, come let's go sin together.

Your life impacts the people around you.

And some people are stumbled.

Your family, your friends, your coworkers, your neighbors, they're impacted.

When you turn away from the things of God.

When you are not walking.

In right relationship with God.

And so we find the people still sacrificed on the high places.

They didn't come back all the way.

They're set up there, they're kind of.

In a place of perpetual sabotage that that they are just going to be boom right back in the mid steps, and they're not fully obedient, not wholehearted in the things of God.

Just partially.

And we find them quick to run back.

To idolatry, once he's gone now, once Manasseh is off the scene, his son Ammon takes the throne.

And I would suggest that Ammon is seriously impacted.

By Manasseh as well.

Check out verses 21 through 23.

Amun was 22 years old when he became king, and he reigned 2 years in Jerusalem.

But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as what does it say as his father Manasseh had?

Done, look at Amin directly impacted by the example of his father in the evil that he did for me and sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh, had made and served them.

Verse 23 and he did not humble himself before the Lord, as as who as his father Manasseh had humbled himself.

But Eman trespassed more and more.

Notice the example.

Aman kept up with Manasa.

Sprinting towards sin running to wickedness.

He was.

Able to keep pace with that.

No problem.

I'm with you.

You can't outrun me, tussen.

I'll be right there with you Dad, and so he runs into sin with him.

But when Manasseh runs back to the Lord.

His son doesn't.

And so it draws this direct comparison between Eminem and Nessa because that's his direct influence.

And Manasseh is gonna be responsible for that when he stands before the Lord.

That that's part of the accountability that he had that.

He caused his own son to stumble in great wickedness and great for Manasa, that he repented awesome.

That's that's good news.

For those who are, you know, in great wickedness that there is that opportunity.

But that doesn't mean.

Now everybody lives happily ever after.

All the damage done is still damage done.

And so all the people.

Of the nation of Judah.

And the son of Manasseh.

Remain in this.

Place of stumbling.

This is something to really take to heart because people in your life you might engage.

In sin, with an idea that.

There will be repentance.

And maybe you even involve somebody else.

Maybe it's appropriate.

It's youth service Sunday and there's youth in the room, right?

Young men, young women.

There's things that you can do with other.

Young men and young women.

That you ought not to do.

And you can even have the plan.

Well, but there will be repentance afterwards.

So you know.

There's grace and forgiveness and it'll be OK.

But one of the things that you're not factoring in is even if you repent all the way, which isn't guaranteed.

When you run into that sin.

And you involve other people.

They may not repent.

They may not experience that return to the Lord even if you do.

And there's a great responsibility that we carry.

For the people around us, it's why we need to be pursuing the Lord with all of our heart.

And running swiftly.

To repentance.

So that we don't get that far.

Because we impact the lives of the people around us.

Well, let's move on to chapter 34 with point #4 this morning.

Inherit the sins of your parents.

Another good reason youth are included with us here this morning.

Listen young men, young women.

You do not have to inherit the sins of your parents.

You don't have to adopt.

The same mistakes, the same failures that they had.

The example of that is Josiah. Here in 2 Chronicles Chapter 34, look at verses one through three. It says Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem, and he did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father David. He did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father, David.

And in the 12th year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images.

Here we get to consider the example of Josiah and we considered it a little bit more in depth on Wednesday, and so if you want to check that out, you can go back and get the message from from Wednesday.

Looking at the life of Josiah.

But here what's interesting about Josiah is his dad was Ammon.

Ammon was wicked, like Manasseh.

Josiah Grandpa was Manasseh.

So you have two generations of great wickedness.

And then you have Josiah.

And he says.

You know what?

I'm not going to behave like they behaved.

I'm not going to live like they lived.

He it tells us in verse 2 did what was right in the sight of the Lord.

A different father to model his life after he says he walked in the ways.

Of his father David.

This is how grandpa acts.

Acted this is how Dad behaved.

Those are not a great examples for me.

I'm going to set my eyes on somebody.

Else, and I'm going to use.

David as the model.

He says he didn't turn to.

The right hand or to the left.

He was steadfast.

He was determined.

I'm not going.

I'm going to be tempted.

There's going to be pressure to turn.

There's going to be opportunity.

But I don't have to inherit their sinful behavior.

In verse three, it gives us how he was able to pull this off.

How was he able to make this happen?

How could he break that cycle of sin that had been handed down to him?

Well, it says while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David.

He began to seek God.

There is a tendency for there to be a continuation or perpetuation of sin.

It's not hard to look through a family history and see, well there is this tendency of alcoholism.

There is this tendency of drug addiction.

There is this tendency of, you know, womanizing and adultery.

There is this tendency of it's not hard to see those patterns.

It is easy for us to adopt.

The sins of those who came before us.

In fact, I would suggest typically what happens is we take the sins of our parents and then we take it another step further and then our next generation takes the sins of the previous generation and takes it a step further that that is the cycle that that we progress down as humanity.

But there is an opportunity to break that cycle.

And you don't have to have the temper that your parents have.

You don't have to behave that way or or have that attitude, or have that mindset.

There can be a change of transformation if you will begin to seek.

The Lord.

Seek God.

And as you turn to God and humble yourself before God and submit to God, you have the opportunity.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, as one who has been born.

Again, you get to choose.

Choose whether or not you will adopt the behavior of those who have been around you.

Whether for good or for evil.

The Lord gives you the opportunity he's broken the chains, the things that once would have bound us.

Don't they don't have to bind us anymore?

Now we can go back in and put on the shackles.

But why would you do that?

God brought you out of that.

Don't run back to it.

You need to know, don't just surrender yourself to, well, this is the temper that my.

Dad had this is the temper.

My grandpa had.

This is tempered.

My great grandpa had and so this is just the temper that I'm going to have and just get.

Used to it family.

I'm just going to be an angry person who just blows up randomly and just watch out and learn how to duck like that is not the way that you have to behave.

God can break that cycle.

Break those habits.

Break those tendencies as you seek the law.

Again, we often run to sin.

We run into those things that we're familiar with and that have been handed down to us.

And then we crawled to repentance and we're just slow to get out of it.

We just keep on perpetuating the thing.

Break the cycle.

Run to repentance.

Frequently, often.

Let God change you and transform you as you continue to run to him over and over and over again.

Well, let's move on to chapter 35 now for point #5. And that is foolishness is always.

Here's one of the reasons why we.

Need to be.

Swift to repent.

It it needs to be kind of a posture.

That we have.

To protect ourselves from from pride and from moving forward in in mistakes that we'll regret later on.

When we are swift to repent and we make a mistake.

Because we've practiced repentance a lot.

We've we've learned how to repent.

We've learned how to catch those mistakes and turn from them and turn back to the Lord.

Then, then we're ready to address the mistake that we're making, but sometimes.

When we're reluctant to repent, we press forward in foolishness.

And suffer the consequences for it. Check out chapter 35, verses 20 through 24. We're still.

Looking at Josiah.

He was a good king.

He broke the patterns of wickedness that that the generations before him had undergone.

But at the end of his life.

He just does a foolish thing.

He doesn't abandon the Lord.

He's not, you know, in all out rebellion against the Lord, but.

But he has an opportunity.

To be corrected and changed.

But he says no, thank you.

I want to keep going down this foolish path.

Verse 20 after all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Niko King of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates, and Josiah went out against him.

But he sent messengers to him, saying, what have I to do with you, King of Judah?

I have not come against you this day, but against the House with which I have war.

For God commanded me to make haste, refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest he destroy you. Verse 22.

Nevertheless, Josiah would not turn his face from him.

But disguised himself so that he.

Might fight with him and.

Did not heed the words of.

Niko from the mouth of God.

So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.

Here we see Josiah at the end of his life and you'll see as you read on the next couple verses, he dies in this battle.

The King of Egypt is passing nearby Judah to go up north to fight this battle and just say it takes it on himself and says, you know what I'm going to go intercept this guy and his his army and I'm going to defeat them right here on the spot.

And Pharaoh sends to Josiah hey come.

You know God sent me on this mission.

I'm going up north I.

I'm not trying to pick a fight with you, I'm just passing through.

And God told me to do this.

If you come and fight with me, you're meddling with God's plan.

And the way it's written here.

In these verses, God is confirming that actually is true, even though Pharaoh wasn't necessarily walking with God or obedient with God, or caring about what God wanted.

God actually was leading Pharaoh to this battle and actually did not want Josiah to try to interfere.

But Josiah.

Presses on, in foolishness.

Nevertheless, he would not turn his face from him.

You know that means.

He didn't repent.

That 180 degrees, right? He said no, I'm not turning my face. I'm continuing in this path.

Even though you've told me this is the path that got as you on.

Even though you've told me it's foolish for me to do this, he didn't even stop and say, well, maybe I should check with God and see.

Is this guy lying or is he?

Telling the truth.

Instead, he persisted.

In his foolishness.

For the best of the best of the best of the.

Godly women, men and women who.

Ever live on this earth?

You need to understand.

Foolishness is always possible.

We're never immune to foolishness.

We never get to a point where it's like, all right.

I am so strong in the Lord, I am so good and faithful to the Lord that I don't even need to worry about foolishness.

I don't even need to be considered about considering or or or.

Analyzing to see if I'm doing something foolish. No, no, I'm with the Lord and the Lord's with me. And so it's not.

Even an option.

Now we need to be humble enough to recognize that even some of the things that we want to.

Do the most.

They might be foolish.

And we might need to let the Lord call us repentance to turn our face around and not to continue in that path, but to stop go the other direction.

Because what we are about to engage in is foolish.

Well, finally point #6.

As we look at 2 Chronicles Chapter 36, your rebellion hurts everyone, and we're not going to dive into a lot of detail here, but just kind of summarize a little bit by looking at verses 11 through 14, it says.

Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the Prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord.

And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who made him swear an oath by God, but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the Lord God of Israel.

Moreover, all the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more according to all the abominations of the nations and defiled the House of the Lord which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

Chapter 36 records the final destruction of Judah by the Nation of Babylon.

It Records 4 kings.

Three of them are sons of Josiah.

One of them is a grandson of Josiah.

4 Kings that reigned in these final years, just the last, like 25 year stretch of the nation of Judah.

Here all of them wicked after Josiah goes off the scene.

The nation essentially nosedives into wickedness.

They're stubborn in their rebellion and God sends prophet after prophet after prophet.

We'll see that when we get to Jeremiah.

Obadiah, these guys who prophesied during this time.

But they said, Nope, we're not going to listen.

We're not going to repent.

We're not going to turn.

To their own destruction and to the destruction.

Of everyone around them, your rebellion.

Hurts you.

And everyone around you.

It's the reality.

It's what we face.

The consequences and devastation of disobedience to God.

Our tendency.

Is to run to sin.

But then crawl to repentance.

Let's break that cycle, that tendency.

And let's be swift, let's learn.

To be soft.

And receptive to what God has to say.

To turn around when he calls us.

To change.

And submit ourselves to obedience to him.

It's going to have to require some deliberate effort.

It's going to require some fierce battle against our own nature against the influence of the world around us.

But it's the only way to finish well.

Of swiftly repent swiftly, repeatedly.

Turning back again and again and again.

To the things of God.

Well, it's an appropriate topic to consider as we prepare our hearts for partaking of communion this morning, and we know you can come up and prepare for communion.

The ushers will prepare for communion as well.

I want to read to you a few verses out of second or.

First Corinthians Chapter 11.

In Paul's description and addressing of communion.

First Corinthians Chapter 11, verse 23 says for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you.

That the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he.

Was betrayed took.

Bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it.

And said take eat.

This is my body which is broken for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

In the same manner he also took the cup after the supper, saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

This do as often as you drink it.

In remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes.

Paul lays out the elements of communion, the bread which represents the body of Jesus being broken for us.

The cup, which represents the blood of Jesus being shed for us.

This is our opportunity to repent initially to believe in Jesus and be born again, but it's our opportunity to repent ongoing.

That's why the Lord calls us to partake of communion regularly because we need to come back to this place of recognizing what Christ has done for us and receiving from him that forgiveness, and a newness of life that he promises as we trust in him.

But Paul goes on to say this.

Whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the.

For he who drinks and eats and an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning.

The Lord's body.

Paul goes on to say it's appropriate for you and I to stop and reflect.

Is there any repentance necessary as I partake to just partake and ignore any need for repentance in my life he.

Says it's foolish.

It's it's disrespectful.

To what Christ has done for us.

To take an unworthy manner.

Is to not discern the Lord's body to.

Not appreciate what he has done for us and not discern the body of Christ around us and appreciate the body of Christ and how the rest of the body is affected by our.

Sinfulness as well.

And so this is a time, and this is an.

Occasion for us.

To stop and reflect.

They load what?

What do I need?

Is there any for repentance?

In my life.

And if the Lord.

Reveals anything if there's anything on your heart.

If God is saying anything to you.

Anything that's out of line?

It's OK if it's just a little thing, and you might think, well, it's just a little thing, so it's not that big of a deal.

Little things turn into big things, and when they're little is the best time to repent.

The easiest time to clean up is when it's just a little.

Mess, but the longer you leave that mess.

The harder and harder.

It is to clean it up.

So let's run to repentance.

Let's be swift.

The ushers are.

Going to hand out the bread in the cup as Lena leads us in worship.

You're free to partake at any time as we worship the Lord as you run dependents and respond to Lord you're free at any time.

She'll give you an opportunity at the end before we go.

If you hadn't partaken during the worship, but let's take this time to evaluate ourselves as as the Lord calls us to examine ourselves.

And any area that's needed of repentance, let's run to it.

Let's receive the correction and the forgiveness that God offers to us, but we thank you for your sacrifice.

We thank you for your Grace and your mercy, and Lord, our hearts are prone to wander, and Lord were quick to deceive ourselves.

And so Lord in this time would you give us?

Clarity, would you open our eyes?

What may we see?

These things that you want to highlight?

That we might turn from them and run to you.

I pray this in Jesus name.

Amen, let's worship.