The Christian Mindset 2
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The Christian Mindset is a Godly Mindset
A godly mindset leads to a godly life.
We live in a time, … talk of relativism..
What the Bible says “they did what was right in their own eyes.”
Life of King Hezekiah. Righteous king of Judah. Led a revival in Jerusalem.
1 Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
This is the summary of the rule of King Hezekiah: “he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord...” not what was right in his own eyes.
Background: He was the 12th king after Solomon
The Godly Mindset stands for what is right even though it is unpopular.
his father Ahaz setup altars for other gods in every corner of Jerusalem and made high places to make offerings to idols.. he turned to the world when he was in distress from invasions of Syria, Edom and Assyria.. he paid tribute to these foreign kings.
5 and said to them, “Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place. 6 For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their backs.
Hezekiah did not bow to the world
2. The Godly Mindset honors God with a consecrated life of worship.
He led the nation to repentance, offered a sin offering for the kingdom..
24 and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.
30 And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.
There was so much offering that the priests were overwhelmed.
Generosity is also the hallmark of the godly mindset. (talk)
34 But the priests were too few and could not flay all the burnt offerings, so until other priests had consecrated themselves, their brothers the Levites helped them, until the work was finished—for the Levites were more upright in heart than the priests in consecrating themselves. 35 Besides the great number of burnt offerings, there was the fat of the peace offerings, and there were the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the Lord was restored.
3. The Godly mindset influences others to turn to the One True God.
Talk...
6 Then the runners went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the king and his leaders, and spoke according to the command of the king: “Children of Israel, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; then He will return to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.
10 So the runners passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun; but they laughed at them and mocked them.
There was a great assembly in Jerusalem and they kept the passover.
Hezekiah used his position of authority over the kingdom to bring them into obedience and worship of the one true God. But you do not have to have that same level of authority to influence people. You can engage people around you in discussions about God.
I’ve seen people who are so knowledgeable and committed to subject matters that they can excitedly talk about it and even lead discussions. Could be in the area of sports, men can talk for hours and even fight about their favorites sports teams. It can be about the subject of finances, you can be a financial guru...
But very few in the church talks passionately about what is written in this book (hold the Bible)
The result God listened to the prayer of the king and the people.
20 And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27 Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy habitation in heaven.
Everyone around you could benefit from your godly mindset
4. The Godly mindset is unshaken in good times and in bad.
Notice that all of Hezekiah’s good works and acts of devotion to God were done during times of peace and good days in the kingdom. As king he could have indulged in riches and lavished himself with the best delights that the world can offer. Actually his king Father Ahaz did, but King Hezekiah didn’t, instead he delighted himself in the Lord and resolved to serve Him.
1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and broke down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, every man to his possession.
He destroyed idols.
What are the wooden images, the high places and altars in your life? The Christian mindset is always vigilant to guard his heart against other gods (small g) in his heart.
21 And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
He called on the Lord during times of peace and when the days in the kingdom were good. Since he has that mindset, he was prepared to face times of adversity.
When they were besieged by the mighty and fearsome armies of Assyria, King Hezekiah knew to depend on the commander of the greatest army of all, The Most High God.
King Sennacherib’s boastings.
What was Hezekiah’ s response?
7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. 8 With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
The secret is that when he faced the greatest challenge of his administration and probably his life, he ran to God. But He did not run to God as a last resort. He ran to the same God and called on the same Name to Whom He called even in the good times, when everything was going well.
Do you run to God as your last resort? Do you only remember to call on God when there are issues, challenges in your life?
So God sent his armies of angels to destroy the army of Assyria.
20 Then Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this and cried to heaven. 21 And the Lord sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword.
They defeated the enemy without even fighting, the Lord fought and won the battle for them.
The victory against the Assyrian army.
God fought for Hezekiah.
Do you want true honor in your life? (people want to get this from people and the approval of men)
Do you want true success? (A lot of people only seek success that they earn. It is true, but don’t you want the victory that God earned for you?)
There is no sweeter form of vindication than one brought by Almighty God!
5. The Christian mindset trusts Almighty God as His refuge.
There is a Psalm - Psalm 46. Talk about the background of this Psalm.
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
There are actually three movements.
1. God is our refuge and strength through calamities, natural and any imagined disaster that may come.
2. God is our refuge and strength from enemy attacks.
3. God is our refuge and strength when His judgement finally comes on the earth.
Hezekiah closes with these declaration at the end of his Psalm:
10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
We live in troubled times, days the nature of which is so unprecedented. Just in one year 2020, we saw how the world can turn upside down. We see people living in fear and so much uncertainty.
What Hezekiah is saying here is that there is no reason to fear if your mindset has been touched and transformed by God to believe fully that He is our refuge and our strength.
There is nothing that the world or the Devil himself throws at you that can shake you.
You are able to stand against the Devil and even tell him to his face, Devil is that the best you got? Coronavirus? Is that all you got? Bring it on! Cause nothing you throw at us will shake me nor this church. We will continue to serve, honor and worship our King, the Great Commander of Angel Armies.
We pronounce you Satan defeated by the blood of Jesus Christ and we crush you by the power of His Holy Name!
If you have the Christian mindset..
You will stand exalting God, He will have His way and the final say. Nothing can really harm me because I call on the Lord, Who is my fortress.
God will have His way and the final say.
Who is our refuge and strength?
Who is our certainty?
10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
God is saying “Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts, which means the Commander of the heavenly armies is what? Ask. He is with us and ever with us. That should be enough to be at peace.. the God of Jacob, Hallelujah is our fortress.
Be still - the actual meaning is quit striving. Stop trying to have your own way. Surrender to God’s and His ways. Stop fighting your creator, surrender your mindset and the entirety of your being to Him.
Prayer.