Hope From the Word

Bill Luebkemann: Praying for and finding forgiveness. That's next on Hope From the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann.

Everybody has sinned, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And the penalty for sin is death, but Christ paid the penalty so that we can live because of what He did. And I think it's interesting here what Solomon is praying for. He's praying for forgiveness.

He's not praying for, "Give me a bigger kingdom," you know. It's nice to have all of Israel, but I want to rule a few other kingdoms also. And I need a bigger house and a nicer car and more food or anything. He's praying first and foremost for forgiveness.

Bill Luebkemann: If you're going to fix a problem, you must first accurately identify the cause. Put another way, if you only treat the symptoms and not the cause, you won't solve the problem.

In Second Chronicles chapter 6, we can see that King Solomon understood this. When he prayed, dedicating the temple, he knew that if a person or a nation was having trouble, the root cause, sin, must be dealt with. That's where we begin today on Hope From the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann. We'll start in Second Chronicles chapter 6, picking up in verse 22. Everybody has sinned, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

And the penalty for sin is death, but Christ paid the penalty so that we can live because of what He did. And I think it's interesting here what Solomon is praying for. He's praying for forgiveness.

He's not praying for, "Give me a bigger kingdom," you know. It's nice to have all of Israel, but I want to rule a few other kingdoms also. And I need a bigger house and a nicer car and more food or anything. He's praying first and foremost for forgiveness.

When a man wrongs his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes and swears the oath before your altar in this temple. Then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing down on his own head what he has done. Declare the innocent not guilty and so establish his innocence.

Look, sometimes something happened between two people and it couldn't be proved who did it. Maybe there's an accusation and you only had two people, the accuser and the accused. And there's no witnesses.

So nobody could testify, you know, "He hurt me, beat me up, kicked me, stole my donkey or whatever," or my iPod, cell phone, whatever. And so there's a dispute between two people and neither one has a witness.

Well, it became practice for them to go to the temple and in front of the temple, the accused would swear an oath that he was innocent. And there was, you know, and if he would swear this oath that, you know, if I'm innocent and because I'm innocent, you know, I want these good things to happen to me. But if I'm not, if I'm not innocent, then, you know, he would call down curses on himself, so to speak.

And then the idea was you'd watch the guy or the gal the rest of their life, the next few weeks or years or whatever. If they got sick and died or something or, you know, all their animals got the flu or something, then you'd know that they were really guilty. And if they were, if they were successful in what they did, then you'd know that they, well, they really were innocent.

And he's asking God here, when a man wrongs his neighbor and has to take this oath and swears it out before you, then hear it and act accordingly. Judge between your servants, if the person's guilty, bring it down on his own head. If they're innocent, establish their innocence.

And one of the things that would be, one of the purposes that would be served at this temple would be this whole idea that aggrieved parties could come here and swear out an oath when there was no other way to establish who the guilty person was.

When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back and confess your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple. Then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their fathers.

Now, this is also pretty, pretty interesting because He acknowledges the fact that when they're going to get defeated, it's going to be because they sinned against God. And it doesn't say sinned against someone else. Remember, David said, "Against You and You only have I sinned," O Lord.

When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy, not because the enemy was stronger and they were weaker, the enemy had more machine guns, you know, they had vehicles with wheels that were round and the Israelites had square wheels. Square wheels just, they just don't work that well. Whatever. He doesn't say that. He says, "When your people have been defeated because they sinned against you."

So he seems to acknowledge this possibility that they can be defeated in battle because of their sinning against God. And that's something in America that, you know, we just don't get, that our country can be successful or not based on whether we've been sinned against God or not, or in what way we have done so.

When you look at a country like ours that's been founded on Christian principles and by Christian people, and now, this is not a Christian nation, and we don't call upon the name of the Lord like we once did. And in fact, if you even mention the name of the Lord, they might put you in jail or something.

They certainly won't invite you to the town council meeting to give the invocation if you're going to pray in the name of Jesus in some towns. But if you pray in any other name, that's okay. It seems like they always know who the name of the real God is. Because you know, when someone hits their finger with a hammer, they never say, "Oh, Buddha."

You know, it seems like you can always remember who the name of the real God is when you need to use His name in vain. And He says here, you know, the other thing that's interesting here, he doesn't say "if" in all these verses. Look, verse 22, "when"; verse 24, "when"; verse 26, "when." When these things happen.

He doesn't say, "if it happens." I hope it doesn't happen, but if it happens, you know. "When it happens." So it's going to happen. That's another thing that Solomon knows here. This guy has an amazing amount of wisdom.

When your people Israel have been defeated because they're sinning against you. And when they turn back. So he seems to also know that it's not only going to happen, but they're going to also turn back at some point.

And when they turn back and confess your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple. What does it mean confess his name? Well, acknowledge Him. When they confess his name, when they acknowledge that He's the one that they sinned against, when they acknowledge that He's God and they're not. When they acknowledge that they want to make things right with God.

When they do that, when they confess your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their fathers.

We see this "when" over and over again. Just about the entire chapter, I think we're going to keep seeing the "when" part over and over and over again. Verse 26, "When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance."

So, there's also going to come a time, he says, when the heavens are going to be shut up and it's not going to be raining. And that too is going to be because the people have sinned. When we look at our country today and we say, "Well, it's gone wrong because we haven't done this right, or we haven't gone that right, or we haven't done the other thing right." And you look down in Washington and they're all about trying to argue whose fault it is and who did this wrong, and you know, who did that wrong.

You know, I was reading in a science magazine, they have that giant telescope in Puerto Rico. It's a radio telescope, Arecibo. It's like a thousand feet across. And they scan the heavens with it looking for intelligent life. I got to thinking, you know, if they could just point that puppy at Washington D.C., maybe they could find out if there's any intelligent life there.

He's saying here this is going to come a time when these things, even natural events. Today it seems popular to blame the natural events on global warming. And of course we all know that's the fault of the prior president, because he turned up the thermostat on the sun to make it warmer to cause these things to happen.

He had amazing powers this guy, this former president. When you read all the things he did, you say, "The guy must have been amazing that he could do all these things." And there's no acknowledgment today in the media or in the world. There's no acknowledgment that events in the world can be caused by or allowed to happen by God, based on how you are walking with Him or not doing so.

And here we have an example. You can be, you can be defeated by your enemy. Another example, it can stop raining because you're sinning against the Lord. And yet he says, "When they, when they stop sinning, when they pray toward this place and again, when they confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Forgive them."

Again, we see the same thing over and over here. Forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness. "Teach them the right way to live and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance." So, show them, teach them. You know what? We should be praying just about this exact same prayer for our country today. We have to change it around a little bit, but just about the exact same thing could apply to us today.

"When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight, or mildew, locust, grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come. And when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel, each one aware of his afflictions and pains, and spreading out his hands toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart. For you alone know the hearts of men, so that they will fear you and walk in your ways all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers."

So now, this is kind of like a catchall here. He specifically mentions the oath and the wronging the neighbor and being defeated by your enemy, and no rain. Now he just, he kind of sweeps everything else into a catchall. Whatever else might go wrong here. Famine or plague, or blight, or mildew, or locust, or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them, or whatever disaster or disease may come. Anything. Hurricanes, floods, tidal waves, tsunamis.

When any of that stuff happens, what are you going to do? Well, when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel, each one aware of his afflictions and pain, and spreading out his hands. Any person who's aware of what's going on in their own life and prays to God, then he says, "Hear them and forgive." Forgive.

He doesn't say, you know, "Have them cut their carbon emissions because that's what will solve the problem." It's forgiveness is what's needed. Not, you know, net loss of carbon emissions. Why is it that people who are so involved in all that nonsense are flying around in their own private jets? Telling you to, you know, keep down your carbon emission, and then off they go on their private jet to the next place to tell the people that.

What is needed is forgiveness. And when, when these people wake up, he says, and I pray in our country that the country will wake up and that our leaders will wake up and that the people will wake up and say, "We need to get right with God."

That's what we need to do first and foremost. We need to get right with God. Forgive. And deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart. God knows what's on your heart. So deal with each man accordingly. Don't take out, you know, on one person the sins of another person. Deal with each separately.

So that they will fear you and walk in your ways all the time they live in the land you gave to our fathers. Look, when you know who God is and you know what God has done for you, and you know God knows your heart, then you're going to be fearful when you do something that he doesn't like, that he doesn't approve of. When you sin, you should be fearful of the consequences. You should be fearful of the fact that you're going to hurt Him. You should be fearful of the fact that God doesn't want you to do that.

When it says fear God, it doesn't mean be afraid of God, like he's some monster or boogeyman or something. But a healthy fear of doing the wrong thing can help us to stay in God's ways. So that they will fear you and walk in your ways all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers.

Look, I turned on the TV one Sunday morning a few weeks ago at 9:00, some, some guy was on the faith channel there, walking back and forth, saying, "Fear is not from God. Fear is never from God. No fear is, fear is from the devil." And his whole message was on fear can never be from God, it can only be from the devil. And my younger daughter who was watching with me, said, "Well, hey, what about the fear of the Lord?"

And I said, "Yeah, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." So this guy who we're watching, hasn't even gotten to the beginning of the wisdom. Look, none of us got to the end of it, but this guy hasn't even got to the beginning of it. Fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

"As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel, but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this temple, then hear from heaven your dwelling place and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel. And may know that this house I have built bears your name."

So now he even offers up a prayer for the outsiders, the foreigners. He's acknowledging here, "Look, there's going to be times when a foreigner comes to Israel." And that's going to be somebody who doesn't belong to Israel. That's why they're a foreigner, they're from another country. But they're going to come because they heard about you. They heard about your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm. They heard about this temple and this great God, and they heard about how, you know, God gave us the promised land and kept us in the wilderness and kicked out the enemies before us.

And these foreigners are going to come and they're going to want to say, "We want to petition your God for whatever we need." Thinking about Naaman coming and petitioning to be cleansed of his leprosy. And Solomon says, "When the foreigner comes and prays, listen to that also. Listen from heaven, your dwelling place." Again, acknowledging where God's dwelling place is. "And do whatever the guy asks of you so that everybody will know who you are and will fear you."

And also know that this is the house I built and that it bears your name. So that the foreigners will be like the Israelites. So that they will fear you, so that they will know you, so that they will give you credit. Let the foreigners also hear about the great things that God has done.

It's amazing that in New Testament times it took a lot to convince the apostles that the gospel was for the Gentiles as well. They didn't really realize that at the beginning, but you can find even in the Old Testament lots of allusions to the fact that God's promises are for everyone.

"When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you toward this city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea and uphold their cause." Give them victory in what they're doing when they pray to you and they're at war. What an idea.

"When they sin against you, for there is no one who does not sin." Well, there's, you know, there's something that could, we could repeat a few times around the country today. "And you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near. And if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, 'We have sinned. We have done wrong and acted wickedly.' And if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen, and toward the temple I have built for your name, then from heaven your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea and uphold their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you."

He seems to be able to have this uncanny predictability of the future here, knowing that all these things are going to happen. And knowing that, you know, the people, there's going to come a time when they're going to sin. And there's going to come a time when they're going to sin so much that God is going to become angry with them and give them over to their enemies. And there's going to come a time when that's going to happen, they're going to get carried away. And it happened when they were taken to Babylon.

But while they were there, they did have a change of heart and they prayed and God did bring them back. And he said, "When, this is the great thing about God. He's a forgiving God." Unlike any human being there is. Some people hold grudges, you know, for a day or a week or a month or a year or many years.

These people sinned against God, outright denied his existence. And they were carried away into captivity. And eventually they did turn back. And he brought them back. And Solomon saying, "When that happens, if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul, not just in words." Words are cheap, talk is cheap. But with their heart and soul, they turn back to you. And they pray toward this land and this temple and this city.

"Then hear them and forgive them." And, well, God did that. You know, God answered these prayers. This prayer, this whole thing was answered at one point or another. If you look, you could list every one of these things he's prayed for probably and go through the scriptures and find examples of when it was answered. And probably answered many more times that's not recorded in the scriptures.

"Now my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place." So, "Pay attention," he's saying here. I don't think you should put it that way when you're talking to God, but, "Please listen to us, Lord. Please, may your eyes be open and your ears be open. May you be listening and seeing what we're doing here. And may we, may you find it to be acceptable in your sight."

"Now arise, O Lord God, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. May your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation. May your saints rejoice in your goodness. O Lord God, do not reject your anointed one. Remember the great love promised to David your servant."

So you say, "What does he mean here, God arise? Is God going to stand up here? Is the world going to be shaking?" Well, I just want to suggest, they carried the ark back to the temple here. So in a way, God arose as they, as the ark symbolically represented the presence of God in their midst.

But beyond that, I think he's saying to God, "Be a part of what's going on here." We pray, we're asking you to bless this and to listen to our prayers and to be a part of what's going on here. And as you come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. God's presence, instead of in a temporary tent, now in a permanent temple, which wasn't really permanent because eventually, of course, it did get destroyed. But they were hoping it would be permanent anyway.

"And may your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation." Look, the priests wore robes. But the salvation here is righteousness. And may your priests be clothed with this righteousness. May they be aware of your salvation. Righteousness and salvation were concepts that were understood in the Old Testament as well.

The priests were the intermediary between God and man. And they were representatives of God's salvation and his righteousness. And his righteousness can only be gained if we believe in what he did for us, because it's by faith that we are saved, lest no man may boast. "May your saints rejoice in your goodness." May your priests be exalted in what they're doing and clothed with salvation. May they be accurately representing God to the people. May they give forth the true word of God, and may your saints rejoice in that goodness as the people there, the believers understand and come to know how good God is. May they rejoice in that.

"O Lord God, do not reject your anointed one. Remember the great love promised to David your servant." Kind of a closing phrase there. You know, you've anointed me, done all these things. Please don't leave me. Please don't hang me out to dry. Fulfill the promise that you made to David your servant.

And again, I think we could wrap this all up and summarize it as remembering and praying for God to fulfill his promises. Remembering what God did and praying for more of the same. And remember, remember, remember all these things. But at the same time, pray that God would forgive us, that God would heal us. And I think there's a lot in here today.

You could read this and say, "Well, how does that apply to today? That was written so long ago by a guy who, you know, he was a king and he was a crazy guy anyway. You had to be crazy to have 700 wives and 300 concubines. The guy must have been nuts. This doesn't make any sense." But this is what we need to be doing today. And this is what our country needs to be doing today.

We get into chapter 7 next time and we see, 7 has the very well-known verse, "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." It seems like God is actually saying now the same thing Solomon, Solomon prayed God would do this, and God in the next chapter says, "This is what I, I will do this."

So what better way to answer a prayer when you ask God to do something than for him to come back and say, "Yes, I will do that." And we see here God calling us to remember, but also God calling us to ask for forgiveness, to walk with Him.

Bill Luebkemann: You've been listening to Hope From the Word. We're currently in Pastor Bill Luebkemann's study of Second Chronicles. If you'd like to hear this message again, you have several options. Visit our website at ccmarlton.org, download the Hope FM app to your smartphone or tablet, or look for us wherever you find podcasts.

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Before the day is done, we'd like to connect with you. Share a praise report, prayer request, or what you're learning from this series. You can easily email us from our website, ccmarlton.org, or just call us at 856-983-1662. There's more to come from Bill's study of Second Chronicles, and we'll have that for you next time on Hope From the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann. This program is brought to you by Calvary Chapel of Marlton.