If My People ... 2Ch 7@13-14

Intro:

We are facing a crisis where man can’t do anything. And this is not a time to blame anyone. Blaming people will not solve the problem.

Though nobody can stop the virus, we must remember that God can. In fact, nothing takes God by surprise because God is all-knowing. If God can stop the virus, why didn’t He do it?

The only answer is that He has a very good reason for not stopping it. What is the reason?

I don’t pretend that I know the answer but from the Scriptures we can see that in the past, God allows pestilence to take place among His people.

Let’s read

2 Chronicles 7:13–14 中文圣经和合本－神版 (简体)

13 我若使天闭塞不下雨，或使蝗虫吃这地的出产，或使瘟疫流行在我民中， 14 这称为我名下的子民，若是自卑、祷告，寻求我的面，转离他们的恶行，我必从天上垂听，赦免他们的罪，医治他们的地。

I. Not God but His people

We’re saying, “If only God …”, but God is saying, “If my people”

We’re the ones that God is looking to. There is no power that can withstand the onslaughts of a people who can pray, who will believe God.

II. The Pride That God Hates

God knows how to humble us; God has been humbling us. But, that’s not what God says that we’re to do. We’re not to wait for Him to humble us; we are to fall on our faces in repentance and faith. We are to humble ourselves.

The Bible says, “God resisteth the proud, but [He] giveth grace [to] the humble” ()

James 4:6 中文圣经和合本－神版 (简体)

6 但他赐更多的恩典，所以经上说：“神阻挡骄傲的人，赐恩给谦卑的人。”

Pride is an abominable sin. It is the sin that caused the fall of the human race. It’s the sin that has broken many homes. It’s the sin that has decimated many a church. It’s the sin that keeps God from answering our prayer

The problem with so many of us is that we’re trying to save face when we need to lose face.

III. The Prayer That God Hears

A. The Prayer That Seeks God’s Face

“Your iniquities … have hid his face from you” ()

Isaiah 59:2 中文圣经和合本－神版 (简体)

2 但你们的罪孽使你们与神隔绝。你们的罪恶使他掩面不听你们。

Very few people seek the face of God. Do you know what people seek? The hand of God. “God, do something. O God, give us something. God, keep us from something.”

we are seeking God’s hand rather than God’s face. We’re wanting what God can do rather than wanting God.

When’s the last time you just sought the face of God—not for the Church’s sake, not for China’s sake, not for reputation’s sake, but for His great name’s sake, to give Him glory, to have the smile of God?

B. The Prayer That Turns from Its Wicked Way

one reason that our prayers are not answered is that we have never repented.

There’s not a man in this world who would not say, “God, bless China”

a prayer with unconfessed sin is a religious farce.

“O LORD … how long wilt thou be angry [at] the prayers of thy people?” ().

Psalm 80:4 中文圣经和合本－神版 (简体)

4 耶和华万军之神啊，你向你百姓的祷告发怒，要到几时呢？

Have you ever thought about that—prayer that angers God?

“God, what are You doing? Lord, did You bring us out here to perish? Where are Your promises, Lord? Why did You fail us, Lord?” And, God said to Joshua, “Joshua, get up off your face. Israel has sinned.” () Now, what was God saying? God was saying, “Joshua, it will do you no good whatsoever to lie there on your face before Me and cry out and ask God to bless this people as long as there is sin in the camp

Purge out the sin; then I’ll hear your prayer, forgive your land, and heal … forgive your sin and heal your land.”

Conclusion:

“Lord, You said it, and we’re Your people. And, we’re going to humble ourselves, and we’re going to seek Your face. And, we’re going to turn from our wicked ways, and Lord, You’re going to hear from heaven. And, You’re going to forgive our sin, and You, Lord, are going to heal our land.” I, for one, am still a glowing optimist, for as long as there’s a God in heaven, there is hope for China. But, it doesn’t lie in Govt. Right here is where it lies.