Like No Other - Power and Presence

(NLT) — 14 King Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. I will pay whatever tribute money you demand if you will only withdraw.” The king of Assyria then demanded a settlement of more than eleven tons of silver and one ton of gold. 15 To gather this amount, King Hezekiah used all the silver stored in the Temple of the Lord and in the palace treasury. 16 Hezekiah even stripped the gold from the doors of the Lord’s Temple and from the doorposts he had overlaid with gold, and he gave it all to the Assyrian king. 17 Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent his commander in chief, his field commander, and his chief of staff from Lachish with a huge army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The Assyrians took up a position beside the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed. 18 They summoned King Hezekiah, but the king sent these officials to meet with them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian.

(NLT) — 5 After King Hezekiah’s officials delivered the king’s message to Isaiah, 6 the prophet replied, “Say to your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian king’s messengers. 7 Listen! I myself will move against him,

Here is the prophesy

and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword.’ ”

Here is the prophesy taking form

8 Meanwhile, the Assyrian chief of staff left Jerusalem and went to consult the king of Assyria, who had left Lachish and was attacking Libnah. 9 Soon afterward King Sennacherib received word that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was leading an army to fight against him. Before leaving to meet the attack, he sent messengers back to Hezekiah in Jerusalem with this message:

Sometimes it’s the discouragement the enemy throws our way as he is leaving that intimidates us the worst…

10 “This message is for King Hezekiah of Judah. Don’t let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you with promises that Jerusalem will not be captured by the king of Assyria. 11 You know perfectly well what the kings of Assyria have done wherever they have gone. They have completely destroyed everyone who stood in their way! Why should you be any different? 12 Have the gods of other nations rescued them—such nations as Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Tel-assar? My predecessors destroyed them all! 13 What happened to the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad? What happened to the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”

Hezekiah’s response is key here…

14 After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Lord’s Temple and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord: “O Lord, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. 16 Bend down, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance against the living God. 17 “It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations. 18 And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands. 19 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O Lord, are God.”

Notice this, the enemy is brandishing his many weapons; intimidation - accusation - comparison - confusion - compromise, and Hezekiah does a powerful logical thing that every believer needs to do… He gets a word on it. - Through the prophet Isiah he gets God’s word.

POINT- God’s word is powerful!

When you are battling doubt get a word on it, go to God’s word open up your bible and read it… When you are battling depression get a word on it, when you are battling temptation get a word on it…

God’s word is more than just a good book, it is more than just a standard for life; and it is, but it is still so much more… It tells me what I can do, it shows me what I am capable of, it reminds me of promise, it is my sword, it is my guide, it is my truth…

POINT- God’s word the bible is the highest authority in my life. It is my revelation of God.

But I want you to notice something in our text… Hezekiah gets God’s word on the matter and he begins to see the prophetic word start to take shape; the troops start to leave as prophesied… But on their way out they send this letter to Hezekiah which on some level gets to him…

Notice what Hezekiah does, it would have been reasonable for Hezekiah to get the letter and scoff at it, to simply laugh at it and write it off - HE ALREADY GOT A WORD ON IT! THE PROPHETIC WORD IS COMING TO PAST AS HE READS THE LETTER… YET!! He is still not done, he does not write off the letter, he does not laugh at it, or scoff at it. On some level this letter hit Hezekiah even with the word… So what does Hezekiah do?

(NLT) — 14 After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Lord’s Temple and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord…

MAIN POINT- We undeniably MUST have the word of God in our lives it is our highest authority in life, but we also MUST have the presence of God; his glory, his invasion of our worship to him, his weighted presence in the room. We need to know the presence of God.

KEY POINT- His word gives me revelation, but his presence gives me real peace.

ILLUSTRATION-

(NLT) — 15 Then Moses said, “If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place.

God’s presence completes the work that his power was limited to, but it’s only by his power that I have access to his presence. So I have come to realize this… God’s power and God’s presence have joined forces for my good, they double team my insecurities, overwrite my faults. This is why I am so so blessed.

Hezekiah shows us how to get God’s word and go into his presence.

We need to know his word and his presence - the way into his presence…

1. Worship

(NLT) — 15 And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord: “O Lord, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth.

KEY- Hezekiah mentions he is between the mighty cherubim

KEY POINT- The fastest way into the presence of God is worship.

(NLT) — 3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

Throughout the bible God uses worshipers to showoff his glory…

God tells Jehoshaphat in 2 Kings when you go into war don’t put the fighters on the front lines put those that know how to worship on the front lines…

ILLUSTRATION- Pastor Chemisa coming out of interrogation.

POINT- The best most crucial times for you to worship will often FEEL like the worst times for you to worship.

2. Focus

(NLT) — 15 And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord: “O Lord, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth.

CHALLENGE- What have you set up as God in your life?? What do you find yourself running too in hard times??

(NLT) — 18 And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands.

KEY- The enemy wants you to broaden your focus.

Secular Humanism

We are capable of being moral and suficiant with out God

Omnism

All religion is; any way will get you to God

Universalism

There is no clear path to God so any way will do

Relativism

All truth is relative truth

POINT- Perhaps what has kept you from knowing the presence of God is you have believed that Jesus is A way is A truth is A life when Jesus said I am THE way I am THE truth I am THE life.

KEY POINT- You will struggle to ever know the presence of God until you get focused on the ONLY WAY.

POINT- So much has tried to take our focus away from God.

KEY- It seems like it is getting harder to live with the word “and” more and more the world is forcing the church to live with the word “or”

It was once fairly easy to be Jesus FIRST AND baseball, it was once easy to be Jesus first AND… But we have been seeing a shift Jesus OR baseball…

YOU CAN HAVE THE WORLD JUST GIVE ME JESUS.

3. Allow God to get involved.

(NLT) — 16 Bend down, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance against the living God.

ILLUSTRATION- Eddy can beat me in all these little games.

I have come to learn that whatever I can do God can do better.

ILLUSTRATION-

4. Embrace Grace

(NLT) — 15 To gather this amount, King Hezekiah used ALL the silver stored in the Temple of the Lord and in the palace treasury. 16 Hezekiah even stripped the gold from the doors of the Lord’s Temple and from the doorposts he had overlaid with gold, and he gave it all to the Assyrian king.

(NLT) — 14 After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Lord’s Temple and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord:

Hezekiah gets this letter and he walks to the temple of the Lord, he opens the bare doors, once gold plated but now stripped of their radiance. He walks thru a plane wooden door post with no majestic quality remaining, walks by where once there was a magnificent amount of treasure stored, and in his hands he holds the consequence of his sin; a declaration of war. And in the place where he ignored the presence of God and attempted to rectify the situation by his own means, he lays out the letter and prays…

I wonder if that was hard, I wonder if guilt was crushing him… I wonder if pride fought against him…

KEY POINT- Returning to God’s presence is never a walk of shame - it’s a walk of grace.

You know how much grace has to invade, how much love pressing in for Hezekiah to not see his mistake but to see God.

Conclusion…

A declaration of war looks different in God’s presence where it once had the power of intimidation and fear once in God’s presence it becomes a declaration of defeat.

If you finish reading the chapter you read how God himself fights the Assyrians and they are all destroyed.

This is the power of his word and his presence

This series has been titled like no other…

(NLT) — 11 You know perfectly well what the kings of Assyria have done wherever they have gone. They have completely destroyed everyone who stood in their way! Why should you be any different?

Why should I be different?? Why should I be able to do what others in my generation have failed?

Because my God is like no other. His word guides me and his presence comforts me.