In this sermon, the speaker discusses the importance of having a pure and undivided heart towards God. He uses the examples of four kings from the Bible - Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah - to illustrate this point. Each of these kings had different experiences with God, but they all had one thing in common: they sought after God and walked in His ways. The speaker emphasizes the need to serve the Lord in the days of our youth and to be humble before Him, as God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

May we have a word of prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we do want to worship Thee. We praise and thank Thee because Thou art the one who sent Thy Beloved Son into this world. And Thou art the one who has received Him in glory, and has crowned Him with honor and glory. And our Father, as we continue in Thy presence, we do pray that by Thy Holy Spirit that Thou will open Thy word to us, and touch our hearts, and draw us unto Thyself, and to Thy Beloved Son. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen. This morning we will be in 2 Chronicles. There are so many verses or chapters I would like to read, so I don't read anything now. And I hope that you will read the whole 2nd book of the Chronicles yourself. As we mentioned before, the 1st and 2nd Chronicles were originally one book. They are different from 1st and 2nd Kings. In 1st and 2nd Kings, we have the general history of the nation of Israel. And of their kings. But in 1st and 2nd Chronicles, we have only an outline of history. Serving as a background for a specific purpose. And that is to show us the religious life of the nation. Or put it in another way, 1st and 2nd Chronicles concentrates on the house of God, the temple, worship, Levitical service, anything that has to do with the religious side of life. Now why is it that we need to study Kings and Chronicles? In other words, we would think that these histories were histories of the past and of some other people. And why should we study these books? Now we must remember what the Bible tells us in the New Testament. In 1st Corinthians chapter 10 it is said, All these things happened to them as types for our admonition. Upon whom the ends of the ages are come. So in other words, you find that all these things happened as types. They are for our admonition. We who live at the end of the age. So we find that these books are relevant to us. Because we find in the word of God that we who are the redeemed of the Lord, we are a holy nation, a kingly priesthood. Therefore we find that we can learn much from Kings and Chronicles. We can learn the spiritual principles that governs us as a holy nation and that governs us as a kingly priesthood. So this is the reason why we need to study these books. 2nd Chronicles begins with the reign of Solomon. And it ends with Babylonian captivity. But with a positive note. The decree of King Cyrus. So you find that 2nd Chronicles begins with the building of the house of God. And it ends up with its destruction. But thank God, there is a hope of restoration. In 2nd Chronicles, the first nine chapters are devoted to Solomon. And from chapter 10 through chapter 36, we have the history of the Jewish kings, the kings of the nation of Judah. But you find that all are concentrated on this matter of the house of God. You will find a difference. In the history of Solomon, that is recorded in Kings and in Chronicles. If you want to know the general history of Solomon, from the beginning to the end, you have to go to 1st Kings. Because you do not find them in 2nd Chronicles. In 2nd Chronicles, you find the history of Solomon is gathered up in one thing. And that is in building the temple. In 1st Kings, you will find Solomon's sins. And the prophecy about him. But you do not find these in 2nd Chronicles. Why? Because 2nd Chronicles, as we have said, the 1st and 2nd Chronicles are centered upon one thing. That is the temple, the house of God. It seems as if Solomon, throughout his 40 years of reign, if you read 2nd Chronicles, that he did nothing else but building the temple. Actually, we know he did many other things. Both good and bad. But these were not recorded in 2nd Chronicles. In 2nd Chronicles, you find it is all focused upon one work. And that is the building of the house of God. I think there is a lesson for us. And the lesson is, we may live a life upon this earth. And we may be engaged in many things. There may be successes. There may be failures. But you know one thing that God is really interested in. In our lives. And that is our relation to the house of God. Anything that is not related to the house of God, doesn't seem to be worth recording. Now Solomon, after he became king, he loved God. And he showed his love for God in going to Gibeon, where the brazen altar and the tent of Moses were. And there he offered a thousand sacrifices to God. But we must remember that Solomon, his love for God is traditional. In other words, God hadn't spoken to Solomon yet. He didn't have a personal relationship with God. He hadn't heard from God. And all what he knew about God came from his father, David. So his faith was traditional. But even though his faith was traditional, yet his love for God was real. He loved God, but he loved God in a traditional way. In other words, he didn't have revelation. And that's the reason why you find he went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices. Now you must remember in 1 Chronicles, David had already moved the ark to Zion, to the tent of David. But Solomon, instead of going before the ark to offer sacrifices, he went to Gibeon. Because at that time, the tabernacle was moved to Gibeon. So instead of going right there, in Zion, to the tent of David, to worship God, you find he went to Gibeon, to the tabernacle, and to offer upon the brazen altar there. Now do you see what it means? We know the ark in the scripture represents the presence of God. The person of God. But the tabernacle and all the things in the tabernacle represents the things of God. Or the works of God. What is more important? The ark or the tabernacle? The brazen altar or the mercy seat? So here you find the tabernacle was built in the first place for the ark. All the things in the tabernacle are for reaching the ark. The ark is the meaning, gives the meaning to the tabernacle. And the ark and the tabernacle should never be separated. But unfortunately, because of the sins of the people. We find that the ark and the tabernacle were separated. Not only separated, but we find in 1 Chronicles that David had to find the ark. Because it was hidden. In the fields of the wood. But David loved God and he brought the ark back into Zion and built a tent for it. So in other words, here you'll find David really loved God as a person. He loved God himself. But Solomon didn't have that revelation. He knew God only traditionally. And because of this, you'll find he did not go to the ark. He did not treasure God himself as much as he treasured the things of God or the works of God. So he went to Gibeon. And there he expressed his love to God. But even so, God condensated himself to his level. And you'll find after he offered sacrifices in Gibeon, God appeared to him. And God said, ask what I should give to you. And Solomon, he didn't ask for long life. He didn't ask for wealth. He didn't ask for honor. He didn't ask for the life of his enemies. But Solomon asked for one thing. He asked God for wisdom and knowledge. That he may rule the people according to God. In other words, Solomon didn't ask anything for himself. He asked it for God. And if you read 1 Kings 3, you will find the wisdom or understanding that he asked for actually was an understanding heart. In other words, it is a heart that hears. Solomon asked for wisdom. Now brothers and sisters, what is wisdom? You know, we often times connect wisdom with the mind. Well, knowledge is connected with the mind. But wisdom is connected with the heart. And what is true wisdom? True wisdom is a heart that hears God. Solomon asked for a heart that can hear God's voice. And in hearing Him, he may know Him. And he may know His ways. He may know His judgment. And that is what Solomon desired of God. And God was greatly pleased by what he asked. So God promised to give him wisdom and added to it wealth, honor and other things. With this wisdom, a hearing heart, with this appearing of God to him. You know what Solomon did? If you read 1 Kings 3, you will find after God appeared to him, he returned to Jerusalem. And there he went to the ark and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Now brothers and sisters, it really takes revelation for you to really love God Himself. If you do not have revelation, if your faith is traditional, you may love the things of God. You may love the works of God. For instance, the brazen altar. It represents the atoning death of our Lord Jesus. Because of the death of our Lord Jesus, our sins are forgiven. Surely we love that. Because our sins are forgiven. Or we love the brazen laver. Why? Because there is where we are sanctified. We are washed. We are purified. Or we even love the golden candlestick. Why? Because it gives us light. That we may know the will of God. Or the golden table of shul bread. Why? It represents Christ as the bread of life. That we may be satisfied. Or even the golden altar of incense. Why? There we can pray and our prayer will be answered. In other words, we do love the things of God. We do love all that works that Christ has done for us. Because it is for us. It is for us. You know, if we do not have revelation, we will love the things of God and the works of God. But for us to love God Himself is beyond us. Because we are always self-centered. We are never God-centered. If God is for us, fine. But what is it that we are for Him? But Solomon, after he received revelation, after he was given wisdom, he went back to Jerusalem. And the first thing he did was to worship at the Ark. In other words, he loved God Himself. Now, brothers and sisters, that is wisdom. Have you had a hearing heart? Can you hear God? Has God appeared to you? Do you receive revelation? And if you do, you will love God more than the things. God gave Solomon wisdom. And after Solomon received wisdom, then he built the house of God. In Proverbs we are told, Wisdom built her house. You cannot build the house of God if you do not have wisdom. And that is the reason why you will find the Apostle Paul, in Ephesians chapter 1, he prayed for the efficient believers, that God, the God of our Lord Jesus, the Father of Glory, will grant to them wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of God. In other words, Paul prayed that the people there may receive wisdom. And with wisdom, they will be able to build the house of God. Why do you need wisdom to build the house of God? Why? Because if you do not have wisdom, how can you understand the pattern? You know, God gave the pattern of the temple to David. And David passed it on to Solomon. But it took wisdom to interpret and to convert the pattern into the temple. You know, I often laugh at myself, because I came from a family of builders. My grandfather was a builder, my uncles were builders, my brother was a builder, but I knew nothing about building. And I remember when I went to my brother's office, and saw on his long table, you know, all the schools, and see all these blueprints, you know, I look at them and they didn't mean anything to me, just lines and odd shapes. But to my brother, when he looked at these things, he saw the building. He was able to convert, to translate and convert these lines and points into a real building. But I didn't have that kind of knowledge. Now brothers and sisters, it takes wisdom to receive the pattern. In other words today, the house of God is what God is really want. But who knows the pattern? Where is the pattern? Now we know God has given us the pattern of his house. His pattern is here. It is in the word of God. God has revealed his purpose, revealed his will, revealed his mind, revealed his heart desire, revealed what he wants. It's all in this book. We will find the pattern of the God's house in this book. But without wisdom, as you read this book, it is just words on paper. These are letters. You do not understand. And you are not able to convert them into a living house of God. Now many people today are thinking of building New Testament church. They realize that the churches today are not New Testament enough. Or in other words, lots of churches today are Old Testament churches probably. Like synagogues. Instead of New Testament churches. So people began to realize that we need to build New Testament churches. Now how are we going to build it? Read the Bible, yes. There you find, say, in the book of Acts, how Paul and Barnabas, they appointed elders. And how you find in 1 Timothy, the elders and the deacons. Well, you get the pattern. You see the lines. You see the points. So people said, let's organize a New Testament church. Let's have 5 elders, 7 deacons. Now we have the New Testament church. Now do you have the New Testament church? You do not know. You do not understand the pattern. You hear the word, but these are letters. These are dead. You need wisdom. You need a hearing heart to really see the pattern. To really see that actually that pattern is nothing but Christ Jesus Himself. He is the pattern. But how do you convert that pattern into a beauty? That takes wisdom. And Solomon had the wisdom to do it. He knew how to read a pattern. He knew how to convert that pattern into a glorious, beautiful temple. And it took wisdom to mobilize thousands and ten thousands of people to work. It took wisdom to put everyone in his right place. It took wisdom to coordinate the whole work. And it took wisdom to finish the work. You know, some people may begin, but never finish. And yet Solomon here, you'll find, it took him seven years to finish that work. And after that work was finished, the glory of God came down and filled the house. In other words, Solomon had the wisdom not to change anything, but did everything according to God's revelation. So God came in and took possession of that house. And fire came down from heaven and burned the sacrifice. In other words, God had accepted that house. And afterwards, you'll find God appeared to Solomon again. And God said, I have heard your prayers. My ears will be attentive. My eyes will be there. And I will hear the prayers that are prayed in the house or towards the house. And I will do everything as I have promised David. But, I warn you, if you should depart, and if you and your seed should depart from me, and begin to worship idols, then, God said, I will chasten, I will discipline. And there will come a time when the whole house will be destroyed and people will be astonished. Brothers and sisters, unfortunately, this finally happened after hundreds of years later. Now, this is the story of Solomon told in 2 Chronicles. Of course, today we know. We know one greater than Solomon. And it is our Lord Jesus. And what is the work of our Lord Jesus? On earth? We may think that the work of our Lord Jesus on earth is to save sinners. Yes. He came to seek and to save the lost. But is that all? What is actually the work of our Lord Jesus while He was on earth? Or I can even go further. What is the Lord doing today in heaven? Or we may even enlarge it even more. What has God been doing throughout the centuries? Or we can even go back to eternity. What did God have in mind in eternity? You remember our Lord Jesus said, My father worketh, hitherto and I work. And what is God's work? What is the work of our Lord Jesus? It is singular in number. In other words, God does not have many works. God has only one work. All the many works are within that one work. Our Lord Jesus does only one work. Just like Solomon. It is as if Solomon hadn't done anything else. But throughout his 40 years of reign, he did only one work. That is building the temple, the house of God. And spiritually that is true. What is the work of our Lord Jesus? The work of our Lord Jesus is to build for God a home. God has been desiring a home. He created the heavens and the earth. But in Isaiah we find God said, Heaven is my throne. Earth is my footstool. In other words, heavens and earth are God's office. But where is my home? God wants to dwell among his people. He wants to make his people his home. And that is the house of God. And that is the heart of God. And that is what God has been doing throughout the centuries. And that is why Christ came into this world. And that is what Christ is doing by the right hand of the Father, interceding for us. This is the one work he is doing. He said, I will build my church upon this rock. And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And even Abraham, he looked forward to a city with foundation which God is building. In other words, you find that the work of God is the building of his house. A home for God and man. That God may dwell with man, and man may dwell with God. There is love. There is harmony. There is worship. There is service. There is glory. And this is what God desires. We have one greater than Solomon. And he is building the real house. That temple that Solomon built was just a type. It is not the real thing. It is the shadow. It can never be compared with the reality. And the reality is the church of the living God that Christ is building with living stones. And he is still building that. And brothers and sisters, he is calling us to work together with him in this work. What is the work of the church today? What is our work today? We may be engaged in different aspects of the work, but remember there is only one work. We are all called to work with Christ in the building of God. That God may have a dwelling place among us. We are on the one hand the materials on the other hand the workmen. Be careful as how we work. We need wisdom. We need wisdom to know the pattern. We need wisdom to convert that pattern into the building. We need wisdom to work together. We need wisdom to know which part we are to play. Everyone is called to do a part of it. And we need wisdom to know our place in the house of God. Brothers and sisters, we need wisdom. Do we have that wisdom? James said, if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask. And doubt not. And God will give it to him. Brothers and sisters, have we ever asked God for wisdom? Or do we think we already have it? We know what God wants. We know what we will do. Do we? Or do we really need to humble ourselves before God and say, O Lord, I do not have wisdom. I need it. That my life upon this earth may be engaged in the building of your house. That my life will not be wasted or ill-spent. But my life will be counted in eternity. That my life on earth and my work here will contribute to the building of God's house. Not to the tearing down. We need the spirit of Solomon. We need a spirit of wisdom to do that. Well, from chapter 10 through chapter 36, we have the remaining history of the nation of Judah. It's about altogether 370 years. But you find that during that history, again, in 2 Chronicles, it does not give you the detailed history of the nation of Judah. It does not give you the description of all that the kings have done. Whatever is written there, you find, again, the emphasis is on one thing. And that is the house of God. These kings, in their relationship to the house of God, God judged them accordingly. Whether that king is a good one, is accepted by God, or whether that king is a bad one, is rejected by God, is all hinged upon this one thing. And that is their attitude, their relationship to the house. In that history, you find after Solomon died, as a matter of fact, before Solomon died, in his later years, you find he was enticed by foreign women. And he began to worship all kinds of idols. And, of course, you find the nation began to drift away from God. There was declension. But then God, in His mercy, and in His promise to David, God gave them revivals, revivals after revivals. And you find in their history there were reforms, after reforms, after reforms. You do not have that in the history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. You only have that in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Why? Because God remembered His promise to David. So you see that throughout the long history, you find the failure of man, and the faithfulness of God. Altogether we may find five revivals, or five reforms. And you find that during those times of revival, it seems as if the people began to come back to God. They began to renew the house of God. They began to rebuild the house. They began to keep the Passover, and to keep the laws and the ordinances of Moses. But unfortunately, unfortunately, you find these revivals never lasted very long. Some even during the time of the revivalist, the revivalist himself got cold. Revival after revival. But finally, but thank God, there was the promise of restoring. Brothers and sisters, does this sound familiar to us today? Is Christianity a history of revivals and declensions? Here we find God in the early church, on the day of Pentecost. You find when the Holy Spirit came, and filled the house, and 120 were baptized into one body, and there you find the glorious beginning of the house of God. That's the real house of God. You find that God came and dwelt among the 120. The fire came. The glory came. Three thousand got saved. Many came to the Lord. And the gospel began to spread. And within 30 some years, you find at the end of the book of Acts, actually the book of Acts cover about 33 years, just like the life of our Lord Jesus on earth was 33 years. And within that 30 some years, you find the gospel has preached to the end of the world. That is Rome. The center of the world. But then you find even before the apostles of the early days died away, even towards the latter part of the lives of Peter and Paul and John, you find there was declension. The first love was gone. Ritualism came in. All kinds of false teachings, corrupt manners, worldly methods began to crowd in, and you find the church had fallen away. But thank God, because of His love for His church, you find He sent revivals after revivals. You find the history of Christianity is a history of revivals, if you look from the positive viewpoint. If you look from the negative viewpoint, it is a history of declensions. But here you find God does send revival after revival. A return to God. A return to His word. A rebuilding of His house. But brothers and sisters, sadly you find revivals never last very long. Maybe a generation. Maybe a little more. And then you find declension came in again, and God in His mercy, in His promise, again you find He sent another revivals. But brothers and sisters, sadly, sadly, you do find that finally the church, Christianity I would say, entering to Babylonian, it was captured by the world. Has the church come out of the world yet? Well, I use the word church in a general sense. I should say Christianity. Has Christianity come out of the world yet? Is Christianity still in the grip of the world? Thank God. Since reformation in the 16th century, you find recovery. Well, that is history that we have to study later on. But anyway you find that this is what you have, the picture that you have. Now in this long history of about 370 years, there were all together 5 revivals or 5 reforms, under 5 kings. We would like to go over them very quickly. I have only 15 minutes for the 5 kings. Well, the first one is Asa. That is in 2 Chronicles 14-16. You find Asa was the great grandson of Solomon. And when he came to the throne, he did what was right and good in the sight of Jehovah his God. He took away the altars of the strange gods, and high places, and broke the columns, and cut down the ashes, and commanded Judah to seek Jehovah the God of their father, and to practice the law and the commandments. In other words, here you will find a revival. And because he sought the Lord, the Lord blessed him. And when the Ethiopians came, they came with a great army, but you will find because he trusted in the Lord. And he cried unto the Lord and said, Jehovah, it makes no difference to thee to help, whether there be much or no power. Help us, O Jehovah our God, for we rely on thee, and in thy name have we come against the multitude. Jehovah, thou art our God. Let not man prevail against thee. And he trusted in the Lord, so you find God destroyed the army of the Ethiopians. And he was encouraged after the victory by the prophet. So here you will find he renewed the altar of God, of the house of God. And God was really with him. But unfortunately, in his later years, he was king for about 30 some years, serving God, and then in his later years, you find his love for God began to grow cold. And because his love for God grew cold, therefore his trust in God was gone. So when Israel, the nation, the northern kingdom of Israel, attacked him, instead of trusting in God, he tried to make an ally with Syria. And God sent a prophet to reprove him. Hananiah came and reproved him, and said, why didn't you trust God? Ethiopia had a larger army, and you trust God and God destroys them, and why do you do that? And instead of repenting, he got angry and put Hananiah into prison. And he began to oppress some people. And when he had a disease of the feet, instead of seeking after God, he sought the physicians only. Brothers and sisters, what is the lesson, the word that God wants to teach us? It is in 2 Chronicles 16.9. That is a famous, that is a famous verse. I think many remember that verse. For the eyes of Jehovah run to and through throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards him. You know, God is looking for a perfect heart. If he could find a perfect heart, he will show himself strong in his behalf. What is a perfect heart? A perfect heart is a single heart. Undivided heart. A pure heart. A heart that loves God with all his heart. A perfect heart doesn't mean sinless perfection. David had a perfect heart towards God. But he was not sinless perfect. In other words, you'll find what God is looking for. His eyes go to and through throughout the whole earth. Think of that. God is watching, looking, observing, seeing. He is trying to find one whose heart is pure. Is not double-hearted. A heart that loves God. Pure. For himself. Without any selfish motive. Arterial motive. But a perfect heart towards God. Undivided heart towards God. And if God could find such a man, his arm will show forth towards that man. Now that is the lesson we need to learn. The second king is Jehoshaphat. Chapter 17 through Chapter 20. Now Jehoshaphat was the son of Asa. And in Chapter 17 verse 3 said, And Jehovah was with Jehoshaphat, for he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto the bells, but he sought the God of his father, and walked in his commandment, and not after the doings of Israel. He sent out priests to teach the people of the law of God. Then you'll find Moab and Ammon came. With a great multitude to attack him. And Jehoshaphat prayed to God. And here is what God said. In Chapter 20 verse 15. Fear not, nor be dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they come up by the ascent of this, and you will find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jericho. Ye shall not have to fight on this occasion. Set yourself, stand and see the salvation of Jehovah, who is with you. And what did Jehoshaphat did? They rose early in the morning, and Jehovah in verse 20 he said, Believe in Jehovah your God, and ye shall be established. Believe his prophets, and ye shall prosper. And he consulted with his people, and he set up singers. So they set the singers before the army, and as they were praising the Lord, the Lord sent his liars in wait, and killed the whole people. Now brothers and sisters, here you'll find Jehoshaphat. Under Jehoshaphat there was a great revival. A great revival. But unfortunately, there was one dark spot in Jehoshaphat. He allied himself with Ahab, the king of Israel. A wicked king. His son married Ahab's daughter, that is Jezebel's daughter. And because of his unholy allies, he nearly lost his life. And of course he lost his business. You know, he tried to have boats going out to gather gold and things like that, but the boat broke. You know, that was the one spot. Brothers and sisters, what do we learn from here? We learn that we need to believe in the Lord. We need to trust in the Lord. And we need to be careful not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. If we do, we'll suffer. Well, the third king is in chapter 24. And his name is Jehoshaphat. You know, you know, I do not have the time to go into history. You know, the nation of Judah, after Solomon, there were altogether 19 kings. Like the nation of Israel, 19 kings. And the 19 kings do not include Athaliah. Athaliah, the daughter of Jezebel, because he usurped the throne for 7 years. He was not, she was not of the line of David, therefore she was not counted. So altogether there were 19 kings in the nation of Judah. Now, Judas was a little baby, hidden, rescued by the high priest Jehoiada, and hidden in the temple for 7 years. And when he was 7 years old, then Jehoiada, you know, got him out, and he began to reign. Now, when he began to reign, then there was a revival. Why? Because he renewed the house of God. The house of God was in disarray. It had to be repaired. And here you find he had the desire to repair the house of God, that the worship may be, might be resumed. So there was a revival during that time. And all the days that Jehoiada, the high priest was living, Judas served God. But after Jehoiada died, the princess of Judah came, and he listened to their evil advice, and he began to worship God. And because of that, God's chastisement came upon him, but he didn't repent. And finally he was murdered. So the lesson we learn here is, brothers and sisters, to a weak person, Judas is a weak person, to a weak person his association is most important. Whom are you associated with? As long as he was under the advice of Jehoiada, he was good. But the moment Jehoiada died, the princess of Judah came, and they led him astray. Brothers and sisters, do not think that you are strong. Take care of the people whom you are with. If you are with godly people, they will help you to fear God. But if you are with evil people, you will not change them, they could change you. Well, the fifth one, 20th verse, chapter 29 to 32, Hezekiah. Now Hezekiah, of course, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of Jehovah, and repaired them. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them in the open place eastward, and so on and so forth. So here you'll find, before Hezekiah came to the throne, even the door of the temple was closed. So he opened the door, and he called the Levites and the priests, that they might be sanctified, and they might come and worship the Lord. And it was during that time, his time, that the Passover was kept. But they were not able to keep it in God's time. That should be in the first month, on the 14th day of the first month. But, because they were not impurified, so they had to keep it in the second month, but God forgave them, answered Hezekiah's prayer, and after they kept the Passover for seven days, they loved the Lord so much, they wanted to keep it again seven days. Now, that was the only thing done, during the whole history. They kept this Passover twice over, to show their love for God. And because of this, you'll find, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria came, and how God answered prayer, and destroyed the army of Sennacherib. But, unfortunately, you'll find, oh, and then, you'll find that Hezekiah was sick. And God sent the prophet to him, and said, set your house in order. Your time is up. But he wept, and said, Lord, I've done so much for you, give me more time, you know. And, you know, God is so, and God was persuaded by him, and gave him 15 more years. And you remember, gave him a sign, that's a big sign, because the sundial went back 15 degrees. He was healed. But instead of being so thankful to God, he began to be proud. And because of that, you'll find, the wrath of God came. But he humbled himself. So, he didn't come in his time. But anyway, you'll find, that during these 15 years, he committed, one is, he got a son, called Manasseh. And that was the son, that destroyed the nation. And secondly, when the embassy of Babylon came, to congratulate him of his healing from sickness, he showed them all his riches, out of his pride. And because of that, the nation was destined to be captured. So never try to force God. God can be forced, do you know that? Let you be forced. But never forced. Pride is the one thing, that we need to watch. If one is blessed by the Lord, this is one and one thing, that you really need to watch very carefully. God gave grace to the humble. And he resisted. And finally, chapter 34, 35, we find the fifth one, and is Josiah. Now, in Josiah you'll find, when he was eight years old, he came to the throne. And he did what was right, in the sight of Jehovah. And walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand, or to the left hand. Think of that. Eight years old. And he did what was right, in the sight of the Lord. You know, eight years is not too young. It's not too young to know the Lord. It's not too young to walk in the way of the Lord. And when he was sixteen years old, he began to seek after the God of David his father, earnestly. And when he was twenty years old, he purged Judah and Jerusalem of all the idols. And when he was twenty-four years old, he purged the land, and cleaned the house. He cleansed the house of God. And you remember, they discovered, think of that, they discovered the book. And how he was tender-hearted before God, how he repented before God, and God heard his prayer. Even though the destiny of the nation could not be redeemed. But God said, it will not happen in your time. So finally you find when the king of Egypt came, he, actually the king of Egypt came did not fight for him, fight with him. But somehow you find he went out, maybe some pride there, and he was killed. But anyway, the lesson we learn here is, serve the Lord in the days of your youth. Brothers and sisters, when we are young, we still have the time. You know, if people do not serve him when they are young, when they are old, they may have the desire to serve, but where is the strength? So may the Lord use these to encourage us. Brothers and sisters, even though you find there are revivals and reforms, and you find these things do not seem to last long, but we find the lessons we learn are everlasting. We may really learn these lessons, and if we learn these lessons, it will help us when we are engaged in the work of recovery. Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee, because Thou has revealed Thy heart to us, that Thou does want to dwell among Thy people. And Lord, how it hurts Thee, when Thy people forsake Thy house, and forsake Thee. Lord, how we praise and thank Thee, that in Thy mercy, Thou is always sending prophets, Thou is always sending revivals, in order to draw Thy people back to Thee. But Lord, Thou knowest our weaknesses. Lord, we are thankful for Thy faithfulness, and we know that because Thou is faithful, Lord, eventually Thou will have Thy house. So Lord, we do pray that by Thy grace, we may learn all the lessons that we need to learn, that we may be able to persevere until the very end, that we may be the house of God. To Thee be the glory, in the name of our Lord Jesus.