Sermon Tone Analysis

[READ 2 Chron.

20:1-4 AND PRAY]

I would like to begin with a disclaimer:

This passage is primarily about God and God delivering Judah from her enemies

The application for us is a spiritual application!

Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV)

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Our real enemies are not our spouse, boss, neighbor, job, money problems, or health problems…our enemy is clearly defined as Satan and his demons - and that is who we can and will experience spiritual victory over if we follow the example we are about to see.

[caveat: if you are in a dangerous situation where abuse and oppression are happening, you need to get to a safe place - immediate danger = immediate action]

What spiritual battle are you facing today?

There are at least four steps on the path to spiritual victory that this passage gives:

Seek the Lord

Search the Scriptures

Sing His Praises

Stand Your Ground

I. Seek the Lord

A confederacy of three enemy nations is coming to fight against Judah.

This was a massive host - a powerful war machine that greatly outnumbered the armies of Judah

The situation is dire! - There is no hope, humanly speaking!

We also face a powerful host!

One of his greatest tactics is to lull us into a state of lethargy so that we don’t even hear him coming until it’s too late.

Satan and his demons are exponentially more powerful than us…Satan uses a multi-faceted attack strategy to bring us down - he attacks from without but he loves to attack from within…to bring us down by turning us against one another.

In our own strength, we are powerless against them!

Notice Jehoshaphat’s response:

2 Chronicles 20:3 (NKJV)

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

I. Seek the Lord

A. Fear

There is first that initial surge of fear like you and I experience - but it drove Jehoshaphat TOWARDS the Lord…not away from Him!

We are told approximately 365 times in Scripture to what? - “Fear not!”

We struggle with fear - but Jehoshaphat is showing us what to do with that fear - To seek the Lord

I. Seek the Lord

A. Fear

B. Focus

2 Chronicles 20:3 (NKJV)

3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord...

To set here means to be given or dedicated to, and “himself” is literally “his face”

So in other words, Jehoshaphat “dedicated his face - his entire countenance…his FOCUS - was in the pursuit of God!”

Let me ask you - what do YOU do with your fear?…to whom or what do you turn when fear comes to your door?....where do you set your face?

We must FOCUS our face, our concentration, on the Lord!

I. Seek the Lord

A. Fear

B. Focus

C. Fast

2 Chronicles 20:3 (NKJV)

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

The king was so focused that he didn’t want let anything to distract them from the Lord, even food!

I am not going to tell you when and how to fast this morning…that’s not our purpose in this message…but I will ask you to consider,

Is there anything in your life that is becoming a distraction from you setting your face to seek the Lord?

Fasting, a denial of satisfying one’s hunger, is essentially a temporary shift in priorities…it’s putting aside the temporal satisfaction in exchange for the eternal…what non-eternal thing is getting in between you and God?

Fasting is not just abstaining from food…fasting is doing so for a spiritual purpose!

I won’t tell you how, when, or what to fast…I believe that fasting (much like giving) is an intensely personal and voluntary discipline [Jesus said don’t let others know you’re fasting, just like He said don’t let the right hand know what the left is doing…it’s personal - between you and the Lord]

2 Chronicles 20:4 (NKJV)

4 So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

This was a corporate response to the nation’s leadership.

When leaders take a stand, the people will stand beside them!....at least they SHOULD stand beside them!

I. Seek the Lord

A. Fear

B. Focus

C. Fast

II.

Search the Scriptures

[READ 2 Chron.

20:5-11]

I. Seek the Lord

II.

Search the Scriptures

A. Reminding Ourselves

B. Requesting the Lord

C. Receiving the Word

II.

Search the Scriptures

A. Reminding Ourselves (vv.5-11)

2 Chronicles 20:6 (NKJV)

6 and said: “O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?

Notice that as Jehoshaphat was praying, he asked God a series of questions…did God need to be reminded of who He was? NO!

2 Chronicles 20:7 (NKJV)

7 Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?

Did God need to be reminded of what He had done or what He had promised?

NO!

God knows all things - He does not need to be reminded of the past!

WE are the ones who need to be reminded!

Jehoshaphat reminded himself and the nation of Judah by a verbal recounting what God had done…we need to follow this example!

While learning new things from the Bible and different nuances of theology that we didn’t know before is good…we desperately need to be reminded of the things we already know about God and the good things that He has done for us recorded in His Word.

Each section of Jehoshaphat’s prayer can be traced back to another passage of Scripture:

2 Chronicles 20:6-7 - Genesis 13:14-17

The land promise to Abraham

2 Chronicles 20:8-9 - 1 Kings 8:37-40

The Temple dedication prayer

2 Chronicles 20:10-11 - Deut.

2:4, 9, 19

The command to avoid Edom, Moab, and Ammon

II.

Search the Scriptures

A. Reminding Ourselves (vv.5-11)

B. Requesting the Lord (v.12-13)

2 Chronicles 20:12 (NKJV)

12 O our God, will You not judge them?

For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

The people had no power, and they had no plan, but they did have their God!

When the enemies come, when the Devil roars, when the spiritual battle against sin and temptation seems hopeless, when the loss hurts so deeply and pain is so overwhelming that you can’t get out of bed or take another step…what or whom are your eyes upon?

We need to fasten our eyes on Christ - He is our Light, our Living Water, our Bread of Life, our Shepherd, our Door, our Resurrection, our Way, our Truth, and our Life!