Sermon – 2 Corinthians 12:9 – Provided, Perfect, Powerful Grace

2 Corinthians 12:9 – “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.“

What is grace?  This word is used very often in Christian sermons, songs, and conversations.  For example, two popular Christian worship songs right now are titled Your Grace Is Enough and This Is Amazing Grace.  And let’s not forget probably the most famous hymn ever written Amazing Grace.  But for the amount of times we sing about and use this word when talking about our faith, how many of us can actually define it?  What does the word grace even mean?  Theological and philosophy books have been filled with pages trying to explain this word and its significance, but I think it might be better to just go with a simple definition.  Grace can be simply defined as getting something that you don’t deserve.  It is receiving a gift when you did nothing for it.  It is God extending His love for us even while we were His enemies.  It is God sending His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins.  It is God turning the death we deserved into eternal life through Jesus Christ.  That is why a clever acronym that someone came up with sums it up perfectly – God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.  What an accurate description of grace!  God gave us, who did not deserve it, His riches through the death of His Son. 

Knowing now what grace is, we can better dive into the verse we will be talking about today from 2 Corinthians 12:9 – “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”  This verse is the culmination of Paul’s defense to the Corinthian church of his legitimacy as an apostle of Christ.  At that time, due to the false prophets that were beginning to infiltrate the church, many Corinthians began to question Paul’s motives and validity as a Christian leader.  To show his authenticity, Paul went through an exhaustive list of the trials that he had encountered for the faith, which included everything from beatings and imprisonment to stoning and shipwrecks.  Paul laid his life down on the line countless times for his faith.  But these grand gestures of faith and love were not what Paul found strength and pride in, according to 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul boasted in his weaknesses.  He could boast about his intelligence, his works of faith, his perseverance during persecution, and even his personal calling on the road to Damascus, but Paul would do none of that.  He realized that the one thing in his life that had greatest value was his weaknesses, for in his weaknesses, God’s grace would be provide.  What was so great about this grace?  Let’s take a look at three characteristics of God’s grace that we can be grateful for which should inspire us to boast about our weaknesses as well.

1.  God’s grace is Provided.

Preceding our focal verse for today, Paul described how a thorn in the flesh was given to him – some difficulty or trouble that made his life harder so that he would not become prideful. 

2 Corinthians 12:7-8 – “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.” 

Some people think this thorn could be his slowly degrading eyesight or some physical disability, but it is unclear what it actually was.  Nonetheless, he wanted it removed, so he asked the Lord to take it away.  But even after begging three times, he was met with a “NO.”  Instead, the Lord told Paul that He would provide His grace and that would be enough.  As stated earlier, grace is getting something that you don’t deserve.  It is being given something that you did not earn, you did not work for, you did not fight for.  It is simply a free gift with no strings attached.  God said in this verse that he would provide his grace to Paul when he needed it.  Paul did not need to earn God’s favor by converting many unbelievers.  Paul did not need to perform some grand gesture of faith.  God simply said that He would provide the grace when Paul needed it.  It was a gift given in a timely manner. 

We can trust that our God will also provide His grace to us whenever we need it.  Though we may be in trouble or in the midst of a temptation, God will shower His grace on us and provide us what we need when we need it.  He knows our every need and, like a good Father, will give it to us when the time is right.  When we are faced with temptation, He provides a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13).  When we are faced with fear and loneliness, He provides His presence (Hebrews 13:5).  When we need to defend our faith and do not know what to say, He provides His Holy Spirit, who will put into our mouths the words to say (Luke 12:11-12).  In all of these situations, God provides His grace in some form or another.  It may not come in the exact way we want, because as we can see Paul’s desire was that his thorn should be taken away, and it wasn’t.  But we can trust that God will do what is best for us and sustain us in the situation.

But more importantly, God has already provided His grace to us in the gift of His Son.  Even though we had yet to be born and would certainly sin and fight against Him, He provided His Son as a sacrifice for our sins.  Over 2000 years ago, Christ was beaten and mocked, whipped and scorned, and eventually nailed to the cross to die in our place.  Though we deserved death for our sins, we were given eternal life through the sacrifice of Jesus.  Though we deserved His wrath, we were given His love poured out on Calvary.  What greater grace could there be than the gift of His Son!  This was provided to us free of charge.  We weren’t asked to live holy lives or to make converts or to even ask for the gift, in order for Him to give it.  Rather, it was given to us freely even before we had knowledge that we needed it.  God provided us salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.  All we need to do is accept that provided gift of grace. 

2.  God’s Grace is Perfect.

What we need to take note of in vs. 9 is that God says that His grace is sufficient.  Sufficient in this context means that it is satisfying, fulfilling, and enough.  In a way it could be considered – perfect – because nothing else would need to be added.  God’s grace provides everything we need.  When Christ died on the cross for our sins, He completely paid the penalty for our sins, which is why He proclaimed, “It is finished,” as He died.  In saying those three words, He let the world know that there is nothing more that needs to be done to earn God’s favor; everything was completed by Him. 

Some false teachers nowadays will say that what Christ did was not enough – that you still need to pay the penalty for your sins in purgatory after you die.  Then after slaving away for several years, your soul would be set free.  But this teaching isn’t Biblical, and it certainly spits on Christ’s sacrifice.  The Bible teaches that when Christ died for our sins – it was once for all.  It didn’t need an additional sacrifice or any additional work.  All it needs is a heart that is willing to accept that gift of God’s perfect grace. 

Knowing that God’s grace is perfect in the aspect of salvation, we can trust that His grace is also perfect when we are in need.  In whatever situations we may experience through our lives, we can trust that God’s grace is enough to get us through it.  God will not half-heartedly provide for you and ask you to fill up the rest, but rather, He will give you everything you need when you need it.  Just look how He fed the people of Israel in the wilderness with manna.  Exodus 16:18 states, “But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.”  Those who might have grabbed less manna then needed still had enough.  God made sure that their meal was complete.  God is letting us know that we can trust Him to provide for our daily bread.  Whether it be physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual needs, God will provide for us each day exactly as we need.  It will be the right amount and will never be lacking.  And how can we ask for anything more than what God can give!  Can anyone outgive God?  His grace is perfectly complete.

3.  God’s Grace is Powerful.

Finally, we find in this verse that God’s grace is powerful.  When God provided His grace to Paul, He was providing His power, for it says, “…My power is made perfect in weakness.”  God’s grace is not empty words with nothing behind it.  He is not a person who says that he will do something, but never fulfills that promise.  He does not provide a false hope or sense of security, only to leave a person disappointed.  No way!  When God says, He will provide His grace, there is strength, faithfulness, and truth behind it.  God’s grace is powerful beyond measure. 

Imagine what type of power it would take to create the sun, the moon, and the stars in the sky.  Imagine what wisdom it would take to plan out the details of the seasons and how it affects the growth of crops but also the details of how each cell replicates in the body.  Imagine what it takes to part a sea in two or to calm the waves or to close the mouth of lions.  Our God did those things and continues to do some of those things each and every day.  If He can do these awesome miracles at once by a simple command, how much more can He do when He actively acts in our lives!  His perfect provided grace is powerful.  When God delivered His people from Egypt, the Israelites saw its power.  When Jesus Christ healed the sick, the crowds saw its power.  And most definitely, when Jesus Christ rose from the dead, defeating death and sin, we saw its power.  That grace continues to show its power when it changes the lives of sinners – turning hard-hearted criminals into obedient followers of Christ.  That grace shows its power in my own life – turning a boy with a quick temper into a man who is learning to control his anger.  What we cannot do because of our weaknesses, God can do through His strength.  God’s grace is powerful and can and will work in the life of those who will accept it. 

God’s grace has been provided, is perfectly complete, and can powerfully work in your life.  He most prominently displayed His grace in the gift of His Son, who was the provided Sacrifice, the perfect Savior, and the powerful Deliverer from sin and death.  What is keeping you from experiencing His grace today?  Don’t let anything keep you from accepting the gift of His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  Now is the day of salvation.  Experience His grace today.  His grace is sufficient for us, for His power is made perfect in our weakness.  So when you feel like you have nothing left in the tank and cannot hold on, remember God’s grace is given to you. 

Sermon – Matthew 7:7-11 – A.S.K. – Ask. Seek. Knock

Matthew 7:7-11 – “’Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!’”

I was searching the Internet for an illustration that would most accurately depict this idea that if you want something, you need to ask for it, and interestingly, one of the first examples that came up was about a wife and her husband.  It was a series of cartoon images by a French cartoonist named Emma, called “You Should’ve Asked.”  It depicted a man sitting on the couch doing nothing, while his wife was busy doing all the various things in the house.  She was feeding her kids; she was picking up after them; she was cooking dinner, all the while she was trying to entertain a guest.  As she was occupied with all of these things, her attention was removed from the stove, which led to the meal spilling over.  Seeing this mess, her husband yelled, “What a disaster!  What did you do?”  To which she replied, “What do you mean what did I do?  I did EVERYTHING, that’s what I did!”  The last panel then showed her husband saying, “But…you should’ve asked!  I would’ve helped.” 

This comic seems to illustrate a problem that is found in many homes today, where a supposed lack of communication leads to anger, frustration, and arguments.  In a way, I side with the wife, because the husband should not need to be told to help out around the house.  But at the same time, I can understand male psychology, being that I am a man, so I know that sometimes, we just need a good talking to in order to motivate us to help out.  So truly, sometimes a problem can be solved by simply asking. 

There’s no harm in asking, right?  That’s something that my dad used to tell me all the time.  He would say this whenever he was about to ask for a discount or something a little extra from an employee at a small shop or a restaurant.  I often felt embarrassed and a little scared that the store owner/clerk would get mad, but that rarely ever happened (at least I don’t remember a time when they did).  Often times, they would just laugh the remark off, ignoring it all together, but sometimes, to my shock, they would actually give him something.  They would apply an employee discount, saving him an additional 10%; they would throw in a little trinket like an umbrella or extra keychain for free; or they would give a dessert at a restaurant or a room upgrade at the hotel.  After watching him do this so often, I have learned to do this as well.  For example, the other day, I was ordering some cards for a game I play, off the Internet, and in the notes of the order form, I wrote, “I wouldn’t mind if you could throw in a few additional cards,” and when I received my package, it was in the box.  So although the hit percentage is low, this motto seems to work, “There’s no harm in asking.  You already don’t have it at the start, so you don’t lose anything by asking.”  So sometimes, you just have to ask. 

You may be wondering why we are talking about asking for help or for things today, and the reason is because our passage, which is the letter K in our Gospel Alphabet series, comes from Matthew 7:7 – “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”  This passage is quoted by many to push the “Name it and claim it” gospel of wealth, which emphasizes that if you ask in faith, God will give you whatever you ask for whether it be money, riches, or property.  Ask in faith, and God will grant all your wishes like a magical genie that is not limited by three wishes.  But these false preachers are sharing a false doctrine, because they are not looking at the surrounding verses that give the context that is so important to understanding what this verse really means.  So today, we are going to look at four important points about Matthew 7:7-11 that will help us to better understand what is promised to us, who it is promised to, what this promise is like, and what are the results of this promise. 

I.  The Guarantee

What is the promise that is given to us in these verses?  The promise is simple, direct, and to the point – “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”  There is nothing much that can be added to this straightforward guarantee. 

Simply ask.  Ask like blind Bartimaeus did without fear of what people would say as he called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Though men rebuked him for making such a noise, he continued to call out to Christ for mercy and to be healed of his blindness, and Jesus granted his request (Mark 10:46-52).  Ask like the Syrophonecian woman did with humility in Matthew 15:21-28, who persistently begged Christ for her daughter’s healing, even though she was at first ignored.  She went so far as to compare herself to a dog and the miracle of healing as crumbs that fall from the master’s table that even dogs should be able to enjoy.  She was then granted her request for her great faith.  Ask like the father did in Mark 9:14-29, who though he had his doubts, asked for both faith and healing for his boy when he cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief.”  In each story, the person came asking for Christ to work, and He did work.  All you must do is ask. 

Simply seek.  Seek as Zacchaeus did in Luke 19:1-10, who although he could not see Jesus because of his short stature and the large crowd, climbed up a sycamore tree in order to get a glimpse of Christ.  Jesus saw his desire, and though they had never met before, called him by name and told him He would stay at his house, a man who was despised by the community.  He sought a glimpse and found more than that – he found a friend and a Savior.  Seek as Nicodemus did in John 3, who had a misunderstanding about what the kingdom of God is but was truly seeking to understand who Christ the Messiah is.  He sought answers to his questions and found more than that – he found the way of salvation.  Seek as Mary Magdalene did on that Resurrection Sunday after seeing an empty tomb.  With tears of sorrow in her eyes, she told the gardener she sought a body and would take the body away if they just wanted it to be kept hidden, but after hearing her name called, she recognized Him to be Christ the Lord.  She sought a dead body and found more than that – she found her Risen Lord.  Each person sought Christ, and every one of them found Him.  All you must do is seek.

Simply knock.  There doesn’t really seem to be a story in the Bible about someone literally knocking on the door of Jesus’ house.  But one example that could be like knocking is found in Luke 5:17-26.  Four men tried to bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus, but because of the large crowds, they could not enter through the door to the house that Jesus was at.  But instead of giving up, they climbed up to the roof of the house and lowered their friend through the roof.  Rather than knocking at a door, you could say they “knocked out” the roof of the house to reach Christ.  Although the door seemed closed, when they “knocked,” an opening was found, and their friend was healed.  All you must do is knock. 

Each person simply had to ask, seek, or knock, and Christ answered and gave them what they needed.  This is the guarantee that God has given us – if we ask, it will be given unto us; if we seek, we will find; and if we knock, the door will be opened.  Many verses in the Bible state similar things.  Mark 11:24 says, “…Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  John 14:14 says, “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”  Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”  2 Chronicles 15:2 says, “…If you seek him, he will be found by you…”  And John 6:37 says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”  God is asking you to come before Him in prayer – to simply ask, seek, and knock, bringing your requests before Him.  Then, He guarantees He will answer. 

But does this mean that you will get whatever you want and find whatever you seek and have all doors opened for you?  No, it does not.  For there are many who asked Christ for things and did not receive it.  There were people who sought something from Christ and did not find what they were looking for.  There will be people who knock at the door to whom God will not open the door in the future.  Take James and John, the disciples of Jesus as an example, they asked Christ to make them the first and second in His kingdom, to which Christ replied, “…But to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant…” (Mark 10:35-40).  Take the crowd we talked about last week in John 6, who sought Christ for bread and went home disappointed.  Take the parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25, who because they were not ready when the bridegroom came, although they knocked (cried out), the door was not opened to them.  No, this verse definitely does not guarantee that God is your magic genie from the lamp. 

In order to understand what this verse really means, we need to look at James 4:3 – “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”  James tells us that when we ask, we must ask for the right reasons and with the right heart.  When we ask God for something, is it because that something will bring honor and glory to Him or is it to feed our stomachs?  The verses from Mark 11 and John 14 are surrounded by verses that talk about performing miracles and doing great works.  Those miracles and those works weren’t for the glory of the doer but to help people to believe in God.  When we seek God, are we looking for what He can give us or for God Himself?  Refer to John 6 and last week’s message to see how Christ responds to that (and it isn’t pretty, when you are seeking Him for selfish reasons).  When you knock, is it at a time when the door can still be open, or will you wait until the day when you are locked out of heaven and suffering the punishment of God before you will ask Him to open the door. 

The guarantee that God gives us in this verse is that if we ask in His name, that if we seek Him with all our heart, and if we knock at the door right now, He will give, He will be found, and He will open.  This promise is that all who come to Him looking for salvation will be given it without fail.  We can come to Him, knowing He is faithful, but we must come with the right hearts. 

II.  The Open Invitation

The next thing we must take notice of in this passage is the open invitation that Christ gives.  In vs. 8, He says, “For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”  This guarantee, this promise, is an invitation that is open to EVERYONE.  Jesus Christ did not put a stipulation that says you must be righteous or holy or without fault.  Jesus Christ did not demand that you come to Him once you have obtained a certain income or reached a certain social level.  He did not limit this invitation to a specific race, gender, or age group.  He simply said that it was open to everyone.  When Jesus Christ came into this world, He did not die to save only a specific group of people; He came to save everyone that is why John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  God loves all of us and sent His Son for all of us and calls everyone of us to come to Him.  Peter and the early church seemed to have forgotten about this in the book of Acts, for when he preached to Cornelius and the Gentiles and saw the Holy Spirit come down upon them, they were amazed.  God never restricted His gift of salvation, and this invitation to ask, to seek, and to knock for Him is not restricted either.  You can feel secure knowing that this promise is guaranteed to you as well. 

III.  The Comparison

In vs. 9 and 10, Jesus Christ then makes a comparison to help His disciples better understand what He was telling them.  He said, “Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”  Because we have been trained to never expect a free lunch, it is easy for us to doubt what Christ has told us here.  So to help His disciples understand what this promise is like, Jesus Christ shared this illustration.  He asked them to consider how they would act as parents.  If their children asked them for bread to nourish their bodies, would they give them a stone instead?  If their children asked them for fish to eat, would they give them a serpent?  Of course not!  Good parents who see their children hungry would give them food without hesitancy.  I cannot number the amount of times that I have seen my mom give up something she wanted to eat so that I could enjoy it instead.  I know that my mom loves chocolate cake, but when there is only one piece left, she will wait until I say, “No, thank you.  I’m full,” before she will take the last bite.  She does this, because she loves me and is willing to give up what she desires in order to see me happy.  Nonetheless, she is still a human being and can slip up and fall into sin and be selfish at times.  But even though she is a sinner saved by grace, she knows how to do good for her child.  How can we expect any less from God our Father?  The perfect God who is not selfish, whose love can never fail or pass away, whose mercy and grace overflow like a fountain, who has more wisdom about us than we know ourselves, loves us and promises to answer our prayers.  If we can be certain that those who love us will grant us our requests, how much more can we trust our God to do the same and better?

IV.  The Results

Finally, we need to examine the results of this promise.  If we ask, if we seek, if we knock, what can we expect?  Our answer is in vs. 11, “…How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”  We will be given good things.  But what does that mean?  To understand what that means we can look at verses 9 and 10.  In those two verses, he talks about how good parents won’t give a stone when bread is asked or a serpent when fish is requested.  Although this may seem like a passing phrase of eloquence, it reveals to us an important fact about the gifts God provides.  Like bread and fish, the gifts God gives will be useful, fulfilling, and nourishing to us.  Unlike a stone and a serpent, He will not give us something useless or dangerous.  Our God gives good gifts.  These gifts include things like salvation, grace, mercy, and even at times physical provisions.  In Luke 11:13, a parallel passage, we are shown the most important gift we will be given – the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is a gift of God Himself, for He is one of the Three Persons of the Trinity.  That means that we are being given the gift of God’s presence, guidance, and spirit.  What greater gift can we ask for? 

To close, I want to reemphasize that these verses do not mean that we are going to be given anything we want or ask for.  It does not mean that everything we seek for in this world, we will find.  It does not mean that every door of opportunity we knock at will be opened.  But it does mean that God will give us what we need and what is good.  Like a loving parent, He knows our deepest desires and our most pressing needs and will provide for each and every one of them, but He will also wisely withhold what is not best for us.  Our God tells us that we can ask for Him, seek for Him, and knock on the door for Him, and He will give us Himself, be found by us, and open the door for us.  So do not hold back, pour out your heart and soul to Jesus Christ today.  For if you ask, you will be given.  If you seek, you will find.  And if you knock, the door of salvation will be opened up for you today. 

Quick Note – 1 Kings 16:29-34 – An Evil King but a Good Lesson

1 Kings 16:29-34 – “29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. 31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.”

A nation can rise and fall by its leaders, so it is important that good and righteous leaders are chosen to lead a nation.  Being that I was born in the United States and this year is an election year, I have the opportunity to vote for who will be the President of my country for the next four years.  I will also be able to vote for other officials like Congressman and senators, who will help make the laws for the next two or six years.  Therefore, my vote through who I help elect will affect whether this nation will grow or decline.  My vote really matters, and being a Christian, I should support a person that I believe will help lead this nation closer rather than farther away from God. 

In ancient Israel though, the person who led the nation was not selected through a democratic vote.  Instead, it was determined either by the blood lineage or the defeat of the previous king.  If the current king ruled with a strong arm and his subjects did not rebel against him, then usually his son would be the next king.  On the other hand, if his subjects did lead a rebellion and one of his generals defeated and killed him, then that general would become the king.  This second way was the one by which the father of the king in our passage today became the ruler.  Omri was a general in the army of the previous king of Israel.  After one of the king’s subjects Zimri assassinated the king and tried to usurp the throne underhandedly, Omri’s soldiers selected him to be king instead.  Knowing he had the support of his soldiers, Omri then went and killed Zimri and established his rule.  King Omri was a strong ruler, so he was able to establish his kingdom for his son, Ahab, which is who we will focus on today. 

King Ahab is described as an evil king, a king who was more evil than those who were before him.  So you may be asking, “What can we learn from such an evil person?  Why would I highlight a man as bad as this?”  And my answer would be that we can learn from the mistakes that people make in the Bible just as much as we can learn from those who do right.  By looking at King Ahab’s life and how he reflected that of a bad ruler, we can learn how we should live our lives and how we should look for rulers who do not embody the characteristics of Ahab.  So let’s dive in for our short lesson today.  There are four key characteristics that we can see that made Ahab a king who did more to provoke the Lord to anger than any previous king before him.

1.  He took previous sins lightly and did not learn from them.

King Ahab was the son of King Omri, who was considered an evil king.  Verse 25 of this chapter states that “Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him.”  That means King Ahab’s father was already considered the worse of the worse and yet King Ahab did worse than him.  And if you trace back the kings before Omri, each one is described as evil and doing something that would provoke the LORD to anger.  This was the reason why the Northern Kingdom of Israel at that time was so tumultuous.  King after king was being placed on the throne and usurped, because each king did as he pleased rather than seeking the approval of God.  Unlike David, who was considered a man after God’s own heart, whose kingdom was then established by God, the kings of Israel sinned and incurred God’s wrath.  After seeing all this though, King Ahab refused to learn from the mistakes of the rulers before him and decided to double-down on the sin.  Rather than learning, he took their sins lightly (vs. 31) and provoked God even more.  History is written down so that we can learn from the achievements but also the mistakes of the past.  Yet history constantly repeats itself, because we as human beings refuse to learn from those mistakes.  As Christians, we should be careful to study the mistakes that were made in the past and do the opposite instead.  There are countless stories of people who fell in the Bible.  These stories were written so that we as Christians would be on guard against them and not fall into them as well.  So let us not take sin lightly and let us learn from those mistakes and do better.

2.  He associated with sinners who would lead him astray.

King Ahab made a crucial mistake early in his reign – he married Jezebel the daughter of a foreign king who worshipped other gods.  Like King Solomon, by marrying a foreign wife, he was led to worship other gods as well, eventually setting up a temple and altar for Baal.  He would also then worship Asherah, which was another foreign god at the time.  If Ahab had surrounded himself with good and righteous counsel who would advise him to follow God and seek His commandments, he likely would have, because if you read about Ahab and his personality in other passages, it sounds like he is a person who is the product of those around him.  But because he associated with sinners, he was led to sin.  1 Corinthians 15:33 states, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’”  This is exactly what happened with Ahab.  We must be wary of the people we hang around and spend time with for they can either lift us up or lead us astray.  Iron sharpens iron.  So let us surround ourselves with those who seek after God. 

3.  He worshipped idols.

King Ahab did exactly what the other kings before him did – he worshipped other gods instead of the God of Israel.  Jeroboam, a king of Israel a few generations earlier, established false gods that looked like calves in the cities of Dan and Bethel.  He then told the people of Israel to worship these false gods.  Not only did Ahab keep this tradition, he added to it by establishing worship to Baal (by building his temple and altar in one of the primary cities in the Northern Kingdom) and to Asherah.  We may mock King Ahab and look upon him as a fool because of what he did here, but we must be careful to perform some introspection and see if we have done the same thing in our hearts.  Our hearts are the Temple of the Living God, but have we put an idol in its place.  The idol does not need to be some golden or wooden statue, it could be money, our family, our friends, or our career.  If we put anything before God, we have created and are worshipping an idol.  Let us correct this and remove any idols that we are worshipping.

4.  He allowed others to sin around him. 

Lastly, it is interesting that the writer of the book of Kings mentions that Jericho was rebuilt during the reign of King Ahab.  This may not seem like an important detail, but it is incredibly significant.  The reason is because Jericho was never to be rebuilt again.  Joshua had laid a curse on anybody who would rebuild the city when it was first conquered by the people of Israel entering into Canaan in Joshua 6 – “Cursed before the Lord is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: ‘At the cost of his firstborn son he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.’”  Nobody dared to rebuild the city likely because of this curse, but when King Ahab reigned, we hear about how Hiel of Bethel decided to rebuild Jericho.  He did this at the cost of his firstborn and his youngest son.  Hiel willingly defied God even though he knew it could cost him his children.  How decrepit of a generation and people that would be willing to sacrifice their children for their own gain!  King Ahab did not stop him, even though, he was the king.  He did not fight back or reject what was done but likely supported him in doing so.  And even if he didn’t support him, he didn’t stop it.  We must be careful not to support evil or even just be silent in the face of it.  We must stand up to what is evil and stop it. 

King Ahab was an evil ruler over Israel, and the people of Israel would eventually fall for his sin.  They would experience a famine for three years for their sin.  They would lose to many enemies.  They would eventually suffer the wrath of God.  All because an evil king allowed for evil to continue in his country.  But even with all this wrongdoing, he did leave us something important – a lesson of what not to do.  Let us be careful not to act like Ahab lest we be remembered for being worse than all those who were before us. 

Sermon – Isaiah 45:22 – Look Unto God

Isaiah 45:22 – “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:  for I am God, and there is none else.”

One of my numerous hobbies is collecting and playing board games.  Now to many of you, the only board games you know about are Monopoly, Scrabble, Life, Clue, Operation, and the like.  For some, who are a little more plugged in to the cultural zeitgeist, you have heard of games like Cards against Humanity and Catan and Ticket to Ride.  These are all famous board games and have been enjoyed by many at some point in their lives; but they only make up a small subset of this hobby.  This board gaming hobby is filled with thousands of games with thousands more being released every year.  You may be surprised, since you likely lump all board games into one group, but board games can be broken down into many categories.  There are games called Amerithrash games, which involve rolling a lot of dice and defeating other people’s armies.  There are Euro games, which involve deep strategies and are almost like economic simulations.  There are Party games, which like its name states are for parties.  And there is a fairly new subset of games called Escape Room games, which are supposed to simulate what it feels like to be inside an escape room.  For those of you who have never been inside one, let me give you a short description here.  In an escape room, you and a group of friends are locked inside a room for one hour.  You are then tasked with completing a number of puzzles in order to find a key or code that will let you out of the room.  You win by getting out before your time runs out.  It is a great experience, and I would encourage everyone to try it at least once. 

One of the first things that happen when you enter into an escape room is that you begin to carefully look and touch the various items in the room to see if there may be an important physical component or hidden piece of information to solve a puzzle.  To mimic this activity in an escape room game, designers hide things in cards that look like the room you are locked in.  To help illustrate what I am talking about, let me show you an example.  What do you see hidden on these two cards?  Have you caught it yet?  What if I tell you that what you are looking for are two hidden numbers?  Now, can you see it?

Source: Unlock!, Space Cowboys, https://017aae6e-7d2b-4a50-9dfc-d78eced3774e.filesusr.com/ugd/59baa2_d0ba630059a1450ab4199fbb62517aff.pdf

Did you see the number 46 in the first card and the number 48 in the second one?  If you did, good job, your eyes are like the eyes of a hawk.  But if you didn’t, why did you miss it?  I would suspect the reason you didn’t see it is because you either didn’t look hard enough or you didn’t know what to look for.  The solution for solving these puzzles required you to look for the right things to escape.  You had to look for the number to find your deliverance from the room.

In an airplane, you do something similar; the flight attendant always says that if the cabin is filled with smoke, you should look for the emergency lights on the floor to reach the exit.  Another example would be in a movie theatre, where in case of emergency, you must look for the lighted Exit sign, which leads to the door out of the building.  In both of these cases, if you looked for lights, you would find your way of escape.  A child does a similar thing when faced with trouble.  He or she will always look to their parents for a way of escape.  Sometimes, if the trouble was undeserved, the parent will deliver, but sometimes, if it was deserved, the parent will allow the consequence to happen.  In this case, the child looked to the parent for deliverance.  One last example I want to give you is something you may end up seeing tonight if you like watching basketball, because tonight is Game 3 of the NBA finals.  Depending on the team that is behind, the rest of the team will look to one or two players to be the “go-to guy.”  If the Heat are behind, they will look to Jimmy Butler.  If they Lakers are behind, then it will be Lebron James or Anthony Davis.  The teams will look to their star players for deliverance. 

These illustrations may seem unrelated to our passage today, but I would argue that it is actually quite relevant.  Our passage today covers the letter L in our Gospel Alphabet series.  It comes from Isaiah 45:22, which states, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:  for I am God, and there is none else.”  This verse teaches a very simple but singular lesson that can be broken down into four highly interconnected points – Everyone must look to God to find salvation. 

I.  Do What? – Look

The first point that we will expound upon is the appeal that is given in this verse – “Look.”  God was speaking to the people of Israel and telling them to look.  Was it because they were blind and could not see?  Was it because they didn’t know who God was?  No.  They must have certainly knew about Him.  What God was doing here was entreating His people to stop looking without paying attention, but to truly look and observe and see HIm.  But what does it mean to truly look?  When we think about looking, we think about seeing with our eyes.  We think about seeing a bird in the air or seeing a television show or even seeing a person preaching.  But to truly look at something requires more than just the physical act of seeing, it requires an internal reflection and thought of what has just been observed.  Take this optical illusion as an example.  What do you see here? 

Source: https://seekinghisreality.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/jesus-optical-illusion.jpg


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https://seekinghisreality.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/jesus-optical-illusion.jpg

Many of us only see a bunch of red blocks and some white spaces in between.  But if I told you to look more carefully and to consider what is written there, many of you would now see what is actually there.  Jesus is written in the white spaces.  That is the difference between simply seeing and truly looking.  In one case, you watch it in passing; in the other case, you allow your mind to process what has been seen and to internalize and to reflect on it. 

The word look in vs. 22 is more accurately translated in the ESV version as “Turn,” for the Hebrew word is panah, which means “to turn.”  So in reality, what this verse is telling us to do is to turn – to not only place our vision on someone but to perform the deliberate act of turning towards someone.  Whenever we think of the word turn in the Bible, it is often associated with the word Repent, because repenting means to make a 180° turn away from something and towards something else.  In this case, God was telling His people to turn away from their idols and towards Him.  To stop looking towards the things of this earth and to begin to place their eyes and more importantly their hearts on Him. 

In the New Testament, we are told of the many crowds of people who decided to “follow” Jesus.  They would go with Him into the desert and the wilderness to hear him preach and to see the miracles that He would perform.  But this same group of people would eventually call out to crucify Him.  Why would they want to do that after seeing all of His works?  It is because they saw with their eyes but did not truly see; they heard with their ears but did not truly hear or understand.  Isaiah described it best by saying, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”  These people had closed their eyes to the truth of who Jesus was and missed the opportunity. 

We are called to sincerely look for God – to turn to Him.  In vs. 15 in this same chapter, Isaiah says that God indeed hides Himself.  This may seem very awkward and unusual, especially when we consider that in this verse we are told to look and to turn to Him.  How can we look and turn to God when He is hidden?  But it makes sense, when we consider that He is a holy and just God, who cannot allow sin to be in His presence.  For this reason, He hides Himself away from us, until we take the deliberate action of turning away from sin and towards Him.  At that exact moment, He will be found.  Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.”  If we want to find God, we must truly look for Him, putting in the effort and desire to find Him. 

II.  To Who? – To God

The second point that we must focus on is to whom should we look to.  We have already alluded to it in the first part, but we will further expound upon it here.  Just like we mentioned during the introduction, we must look to the right things if we want to find the way of escape.  In an airplane or burning building, we look for the exit signs.  In a basketball game, we look to the star player.  And in an escape room, we look for the solution to a puzzle.  If we look and place our trust in the wrong thing, we will not find deliverance. 

In this chapter, we see that the people of Israel as well as the Gentiles placed their faith in hand-made objects of wood, silver, and gold.  In vs. 16 and vs. 20, they are described to have made these idols and then turned to them in prayer.  They sought deliverance from the trouble they were facing, so they looked to their own objects of worship.  But God warned them here that they had set their eyes on the wrong thing.  Instead of placing their eyes on God, they were looking at things that would only lead to shame and confusion (vs. 16), because these things could never bring them fulfilment or safety.  They were simply wasting their time repetitively calling out to a god that could not save (vs. 20). 

God is extending that warning to us right now.  What have you been looking to for your security and your fulfillment?  Are you praying to an idol for deliverance?  Idols can come in all shapes and sizes and may not even be of the physical variety.  A common idol is material wealth.  Are you placing your trust in the Almighty Dollar?  Do you believe that you can simply write a check that will make all your problems go away?  This is false.  Just reflect on how many people loss their retirements, because of the Coronavirus market crash back in March or those who lost their homes in the past few weeks over the California fires.  Maybe the idol you are placing your trust in is your relationships with others, specifically your family and friends.  Do you trust that they will always be ready to help you in thick or thin?  This is false.  Reflect on the life of King David, who surrounded himself with a great community of people, yet throughout his life, those he should be able to trust betrayed him, whether it was King Saul, his boss who tried to kill him, or his two sons, who tried dethrone him, or even his good friend and counselor Ahithophel, who betrayed him.  People will fade in and out of your life whether you like it or not.  Or maybe you are placing your trust in yourself, believing that you can do anything if you have enough faith and willpower?  This also is false.  Consider how easily your body can fail you.  Health is fleeting.  At one moment, you may feel like you are on top of the world, and the next, you have suffered a heart attack or heard that you have cancer.  We like the people of Israel often look and trust in our own idols, but God is challenging us to stop doing that and to begin to look to Him that is why He said here, “Look unto ME…”

But why?  Why can He be trusted compared to all these other things?  Well, our passage today gives us some reasons.  First, because He is the Creator and Ruler of all nature (vs. 18).  He formed the light and the darkness (vs. 7), He makes well-being and creates calamity (vs. 7), He made the earth and all who dwell in it (vs. 12), and He stretches out the heavens and commands their host (vs. 12).  God rules over all Creation, and everyone and everything is ultimately subject to Him.  Remember how He allowed giant hailstones to come down on the Canaanite army as they fled from Joshua (Joshua 10).  Remember how He calmed the sea in the midst of a storm, as the boat His disciples in was sinking (Mark 4:35-41).  Remember how He commanded the fish to swallow Jonah after he was cast into the sea (Jonah 1).  All nature is subject to our God, whether it be the sky above or the earth below or the animals that swim in the sea.  Our God has all power, so how can we not trust in Him? 

Second, we can trust Him, because He is the Savior (vs. 15).  He specifically saved the people of Israel by delivering them from Egypt and the various countries that took them captive, but He is also the Savior of the whole world, rescuing us from our bondage to sin and the Devil.  He set us free and gave us salvation.  No longer do we need to fear the wages of our sin, which is death, but we can take joy in the One who saved us from that penalty. 

Third, we should place our faith and trust in Him, because He is righteous and true and the source of strength (vs. 19, 24).  These characteristics describe an all-knowing God, who always has our best interests at heart, and is able to fulfill them.  If He was only one of these things, then we may need to doubt.  For if He was truthful, but not righteous, we would need to worry that He could hurt us.  If He was righteous but not powerful, then His promises would mean nothing.  If He was righteous and strong, but not truthful, then we would have to worry that He might deceive us.   But our God is all three of these things:  He is righteous, true, and our source of strength.  This means that He will not only promise to do what is right and good for us, but that He is capable to fulfill that promise. 

Fourth, we can look to God, because He is willing and wants to be found.  Isaiah 45:19 says, “I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’  I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right.”  God is not impossible to find.  He didn’t speak in a way that we cannot understand.  He wasn’t trying to keep Himself away from us, but He wants us to truly seek Him.  Remember last week’s sermon, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”  God is always ready to be found by those who truly seek Him.  By reading these verses, we can trust that if we look to God, He will be found.  He is not a false sense of security, but He is present the instant we call unto Him. 

And lastly, we can, and in reality, must trust in Him, because He is the one and only LORD (vs. 18).  There is no one like our God.  There is no comparison when it comes to power.  There is no comparison when it comes to wisdom.  There is no comparison when it comes to love.  Nobody will surpass or even come close to our God.  So why would we put our trust in something or someone who cannot compare?  Instead let us look to God, who is greater than all.  He is the LORD, and there is no other.  And in the end, every knee shall bow to Him, every tongue shall swear allegiance, for all will realize that He is the LORD. 

III.  Why? – To Be Saved

The next point answers the question Why?  Why should we look to God?  But this time, we are not answering why He deserves to be looked at, but why are we looking to Him.  The answer is simple – to be saved.  God was telling the people of Israel to look to Him for the very reason they sought other gods and idols.  They wanted salvation from their trouble and difficulties.  Look to Him.  They wanted deliverance from their enemies.  Look to Him.  They wanted to return to their own land.  Look to Him.  God saw their needs and their desires and told them that if they wanted to find the answer, they needed to look to Him.  For only He alone could be the solution, only He alone could save them. 

We can and must look to God for the exact same reason – for salvation.  Psalm 3:8 says, “Salvation belongeth unto the LORD…”  If you are looking for deliverance from your sin and strife?  Look to Him.  If you seeking something of eternal value?  Look to Him.  If you  are lost and in trouble and in need of help?  Look to Him.  Our God is there and will save you.  Psalm 137 illustrates this beautifully, for it describes many different types of troubles that people experience throughout their life and how God delivers in each situation.  If a person is lost and hungry and cries to the Lord, He will deliver them.  If a person sits in darkness and the shadow of death because of their sin and cries to the Lord, He will deliver them.  If a person encounters trouble and storms in this life and cries to the Lord, He will deliver them.  The refrain that is repeated throughout the Psalm is so beautiful – “Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and He saveth them out of their distresses.”  No matter what the problem, their salvation is from the Lord.  I want to emphasize though that this does not mean that all your troubles will go away the instant you come to Him, but it does mean that God will be the source of your Salvation and Help through it all.

Our God is the source of our Salvation.  For when He died on the cross for our sins, He rescued us from sin and death and destruction.  All we must do is call unto Him and be saved.  Romans 10:13, my favorite verse in the Bible, says, “For whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Unlike an idol, which can never deliver, our God will provide everlasting salvation.  There is no fear that we will be disappointed.  There is no worry that it will not come true.  Our God promises to justify us and bring us into His glory. 

IV.  For Who? – All the Ends of the Earth

Finally, the last point of emphasis is who this appeal is given to – “.. All the ends of the earth.”  It is easy to think that this prophecy from the book of Isaiah only applies to the people of Israel, for they were God’s chosen people.  But to make it clear that this appeal was not limited, the words were followed by who they were addressed to – “all the ends of the earth.”  That means everyone.  There is no one on this earth, no person from any time period that this is not open to.  God wants everyone to look to Him and be saved.  Again, we are brought back to John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  God is calling each and every one of you to look to Him right now and find salvation.  He has yet to shut the door.  He has yet to close the books.  He has yet to say, “It is now too late.”  God wants everyone to turn to Him, no matter how wicked you are or how unworthy you may feel.  God wants you to look.  2 Peter 3:9 says that God does not wish that any should perish but that everyone should come to repentance.  He is calling out for you today. 

So to everyone that is listening or reading this message being shared today, I encourage you to look.  I encourage you to turn to God, to turn to our Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved.  Stop looking to the things of this earth.  Stop looking to people who will fail.  Stop looking to yourself.  Instead turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.  Look unto God and be saved, everyone, today!