2 Chron 20:16 -  Lessons From 2 Chronicles – April 20, 2008-04-14

Intro:  This morning we are going to learn five lessons from the book of 2 Chronicles. Which theme is, God manifesting His glory and how the temple of God must be the center of life. 

1.  The book of 2 Chronicles deals with the nation of Judah from the time of Solomon

      To the captivity.  A time period of 400 years.  This book deals extensively on the

      Reasons why Judah had so many problems   This leads to our first lesson.

a. Blessings, follow those who genuinely follow God.  Judah as a nation learned the

     Hard way that you must never forget God.  Ezra who is the writer of this book wanted

     To remind his audience who were the returning exiles that God truly wants to bless His

     People but He does not want partial surrender which is the most prevalent sin among

     The church.  Here is a survey done 20 years ago in a major evangelical denomination

     In the states.  (7522)  God is looking for whole hearted surrender of heart, soul, mind 

     & strength. 

b.  Ezra makes it clear that Judah was destroyed because they forgot God.  They were

     Now being restored as a nation because of God’s grace and that He never forgets His

     covenants.   Ezra wants the returning exiles to learn from the lessons of the past to

     Not repeat them in the present or future times.  One writer wrote, “those that refuse to

     learn from their mistakes will be doomed to repeat them.”

2.  The second lessons was the importance of the temple as the centre of all things in

     life.  Ezra spent an incredible amount of time on the construction,

     Meaning and reality of the temple as a symbol of God’s presence and the physical

     Representation of God.

a.  In Ezra day’s the temple had just been rebuilt by Zerubabbel.  Ezra’s task was the

     Teach the people the word of God, to be an instrument of conscience and a voice for

     God.

b.  Ezra talks about the building of the temple by Solomon and Hiram.  He carefully

     Records its furnishings and related hardware associated with it.  He then records about

     Its dedication, the events and prayers offered at the dedication and God’s response to

     It.  Ezra saw the temple as a place where God could meet with His people, a place of

     Worship where He could manifest His gory and physical presence.

c.  Today we are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  1 Cor 6:19-20, God lives in us by the

     Indwelling of the Holy Spirit and we are to manifest His glory and presence.  As His

     Temple we have the privilege of meeting with Him  Experiencing a relationship that

     Ezra could only dream about.  We are to glorify Him.  Paul tells us that we have been

     Bought with a price.  The Holy Spirit became a permanent resident when you invited

     Christ into your life.  You now can exhibit His power, fruit and gifts.  What a

     Privilege and great responsibility.  Talk about the transformation of Paul.

3.  The third lesson we learn is that when the kings followed God they were great

      Blessings when they did not, they were a great curse.  Being a blessing or curse is a

      Matter of choice.  We make decision and choices everyday.  Some have little effect

     On ourselves or others.  Other choices do not.  Talk about Hitler coming to church. 

     Corrie Ten Boone choosing love the Germans

a.  There were good kings like Jehoshaphat, Josiah, and Hezekiah.  There were bad kings

     Like, Ahaziah, Ahaz and Manasseh.  Talk about his conversion.

b.  Remember the leaders chosen will either lead us morally or they will reflect who we

     Are morally.  To make sure that happens, 2 Chron 7:14 give us the key.  The people of

     God must humble themselves, pray, seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. 

     Then God will hear from heaven and heal our land.  This is where our text comes into

     Play so powerfully.  We can win this battle for Hay River, the north and Canada.  The

     Battle is not ours but the Lord’s. 

4.  The fourth lesson is only through worship of the true God can a nation be totally

     Rebuilt and have a firm foundation.

a. A number of kings were able to rebuild their nation  Jehoshaphat did, Josiah, Joash

     And Hezekiah.  Each time they made the Lord their focus and God not only blessed

     But the nation prospered in every way.  Again I remind you of Matt 6:33 and

     John10:10.

b.  Ezra wanted his generation to be aware of this.  He did not want them to make the

     Same mistakes as their ancestors.  These two books would serve as warnings and

     Guide posts.  This truth has both an individual and national in focus.  The Bible for us

     is our guide post and compass.  It keeps us on track.  Solomon took over the nation

     From his father David.  Under him Israel experienced its golden age but he did not

     stay true to God and in his old age, he loved his foreign wives more than God.  He

     Later example and idolatry help divide the kingdom because his son Rehoboam was

    Proud, foolish and ignorant.  He rejected wise counsel for foolish.

5.  Our last lesson is that God deals with men and women on the fact of serving Him or

     Not.  God sees and knows very clearly who is His or not.  Being His means that you

     Have a relationship with the creator of the universe but you also have all the resources

     Of heaven at your disposal. 

a.  This book has a real evangelistic message.  Serve God, live and prosper.  Serve, man,

      World or the devil and you will wither and die.  Each king who did not serve God was

      A blimp, vapour or poof of smoke.  They left no lasting legacy or mark, except they

      Did not serve the Lord.  That was their epitaph their mark on history.  No one

       Remembers the King who enslaved Israel but they sure know about Moses. 

b.  People remember Pontius Pilate because of Jesus otherwise he would have been

     Another unknown governor of Judea.

c.  Joshua in his closing remarks to Israel encourages them to serve the Lord.  In Josh

     24:15, Joshua secured his legacy by saying as for me and my house we will serve the

     Lord.

d.  Today let us make a decision to be living examples of Jesus Christ.  To serve him and  

      Learn from Ezra’s chronicles of the Kings of Judah and Israel.  To Ezra the spiritual

      Side of life was more important than the civil or political.  He believed as I do that the

      Spiritual leads the natural.  When a person is right with God all will be right in their

      World.  No matter what happens