sermon20220501 The Faithfulness of God
Notes
Transcript
The Books of 1 and 2 Chronicles - the faithfulness of God
First Chronicles provides a view of David’s reign with the Lord as the hero.
Second Chronicles continues this “divine editorial” by focusing on David’s descendants, the kings who ruled over the southern kingdom of Judah.
Kings whose names were briefly mentioned in 2 Kings receive more extensive space in 2 Chronicles, and for good reason.
Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Uzziah, and Jotham led reforms that helped to restore righteousness and postpone judgment for decades. They made a difference in their generation because they walked with God and used their God-given influence for good.
Notice how the chronicler highlights both the what of their reign and the why behind their success: “The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David before him” ( 2 Chronicles 17:3 ).
“As long as [Uzziah] sought the LORD, God gave him success” (2 Chronicles 26:5 ).
“Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God” (2 Chronicles 27:6 ).
The writer of Chronicles makes it perfectly clear: while men are unfaithful, the Lord is always faithful.
Why has God given us history? That we might put our faith in the God of faithfulness
All of history points to the sovereignty of God and the fulfillment of God’s purposes and plans.
All of history points to the sinfulness of all men and women and the holy supremacy of a God who intervenes, who steps into the lives of men and women throughout all of time and guides them, judges them, but most importantly, transforms them.
The history of the Bible shows us, and this is in no way and exhaustive list:
That God is all powerful
That God’s promises will be fulfilled.
That good men can make bad decisions
That bad men can make good decisions
That good men can evil children
That evil men can have good children
That women can be just as evil and wicked and murderous as men
That evil is not something external, it is something resident in the hearts of all men and women
9. That apart from the common grace and the particular grace of God, all men and women are spiritually dead and under the certain wrath of God.
How should we understand Chronicles?
Two Histories
The times during which the events took place.
The time of the writing relative to the time of the events (500 BC versus 1000-500 BC) - the return of the people from Exile and they are back in the land. What is the purpose? What is driving the writer?
They’ve returned from Exile and there is disappointment and opposition.
The writer gives a theological history. He is teaching about God.
Kings deals with Israel and Judah
Chronicles deals almost exclusively with Judah
But more important, Chronicles is about the faithfulness of God and a challenge to have a faith that obeys.
4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
13 So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. 14 He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.
(1) The Lord is faithful and His fruit is faithfulness
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Jehoshaphat
9 And he charged them: “Thus you shall do in the fear of the Lord, in faithfulness, and with your whole heart:
Hezekiah
12 And they faithfully brought in the contributions, the tithes, and the dedicated things. The chief officer in charge of them was Conaniah the Levite, with Shimei his brother as second,
15 Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah were faithfully assisting him in the cities of the priests, to distribute the portions to their brothers, old and young alike, by divisions,
18 They were enrolled with all their little children, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, the whole assembly, for they were faithful in keeping themselves holy.
1 After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them for himself.
Josiah
12 And the men did the work faithfully. Over them were set Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to have oversight. The Levites, all who were skillful with instruments of music,
(2) The sinful heart is an unfaithful heart
Rehoboam
2 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem
Uzziah
16 But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.
Ahaz
19 For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had made Judah act sinfully and had been very unfaithful to the Lord.
Jehoahaz son of Josiah
14 All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem.
(3) The unregenerate heart is a faithless heart
22 In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the Lord—this same King Ahaz.
Hezekiah
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 - Passover restored
7 Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the Lord God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see.
Manasseh
19 And his prayer, and how God was moved by his entreaty, and all his sin and his faithlessness, and the sites on which he built high places and set up the Asherim and the images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the Chronicles of the Seers.
(4) The unregenerate heart turns from true worship
Rehoboam
1 When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.
Rehoboam
5 Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’ ”
Joash after the prophet Jehoiada died
18 And they abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.
(5) The heart of the Lord is a compassionate heart
Zedekiah, the last king
15 The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.
16 But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.
Manasseh’s repentance
12 And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.
16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”
How do we respond to the Lord when we live in a world where it seems that God has forgotten us?
The faith that comes from the Lord
The faith that produces faithfulness
The faith that produces obedience
The faith that produces true worship
The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever - until we truly seek to glorify him we will never truly understand what it means to enjoy him.