THE PURSUIT OF GOD
II KINGS 18:1-7A
INTRODUCTION: One of the worst kings of Judah, Asa, was succeeded by one of the best. Of no other king of Israel or Judah, other than David, is it said that the Lord was with him. God blessed and prospered Hezekiah. II Chronicles 32, tells us that God gave Hezekiah great wealth and caused him to succeed in all his endeavors. Unlike other kings of Judah and Israel, wealth and power did not corrupt him. The reason for his success was a trust in God. Hezekiah’s faith was not a mere idle profession. It was not simply a belief in certain historical facts. It was not the mere observance of outward religious ritual and ceremonies. His faith was real, extending to the whole of his life and evidenced by his pursuit of God. In verse six, we read, "For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses." In our Happiness is a Choice Support Group, we discussed Dr. Frank Minirth & Dr. Paul Meier’s explanation of the Hebrew word for “cleave” in verse 6. They state that the word implies friendship, implies a longing to be with someone, implies enjoyment in being with that someone, implies spending time together, implies to be intensely in pursuit of that person. (Happiness is a Choice, Frank Minirth and Paul Meier, Baker Book House, 1994, page 142)
I. Can it be said of you that you are in the pursuit of God?
A. Is Jesus Christ truly your closest friend? And more importantly, are you God’s friend?
1. James 2:23 "And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God."
2. Tony Campolo says, “God carries your picture in his wallet.” (Christian speaker. Men of Integrity, Vol. 1, no. 1.) The question is do you carry His picture in your heart?
B. Do you long for His presence?
1. Psalms 63:1 "A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land…”
2. Jim Elliot in his Journal wrote, “I walked out to the hill just now. It is exalting, delicious. To stand embraced by the shadows of a friendly tree with the wind tugging at your coattail and the heavens hailing your heart, to gaze and glory and to give oneself again to God, what more could a man ask? Oh, the fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement of knowing God on earth. I care not if I never raise my voice again for Him, if only I may love Him, please Him. Mayhap, in mercy, He shall give me a host of children that I may lead through the vast star fields to explore His delicacies whose fingers’ ends set them to burning. But if not, if only I may see Him, smell His garments, and smile into my Lover’s eyes, ah, then, not stars, nor children, shall matter--only Himself. (The Journals of Jim Elliot; entry of January 16, 1951. Christianity Today, Vol. 39, no. 7.)
C. Do you enjoy being in His house, reading His Word,
1. Psalms 119:16 "I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word."
2. Psalms 119:103 "How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"
D. How much time do you spend with Him?
1. Real prayer is a serious concern, for we are speaking to the sovereign Lord of all the universe, who is willing to move heaven and earth in answer to sincere and reasonable prayer. Prayer is not a mechanical duty, but a wonderful opportunity to develop a loving and caring relationship with the most important Person in our lives.
2. How much time does it take to read from Genesis to Revelation? If you would read the Bible at standard pulpit speed (slow enough to be heard and understood) the reading time would be seventy-one hours. If you would break that down into minutes and divide it into 365 days you could read the entire Bible, cover to cover, in only twelve minutes a day. Is this really too much time to spend reading about God?
3. Where did we come up with this concept of "spare time," anyway? Is there any time for which we aren’t accountable to God? Is there any time during which God doesn’t care what you are doing? No Christian has ever had spare time. You may have spare time from labor or necessity, you may stop working and refresh yourself, but no Christian ever had time off from living like a Christian.
E. Do you hang on to Him with a passion that does not want to let Him go?
1. Psalms 16:11 "Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."
2. Deuteronomy 13:4 "Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him."
II. The pursuit of God by Hezekiah was evidenced by and deepened by his works.
A. His actions demonstrated his one great aim – to please God!
1. Kept His commandments
a. 2 Kings 18:3, 6 "And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did." … "For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses."
b. The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith. The two are at opposite sides of the same coin.
c. John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments."
2. Removed Temptation in all its forms
a. 2 Kings 18:4 "He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan."
b. He removed everything that would seek to steal his affection or attention from God. He sought to eliminate anything that would interfere with his devotion to God.
c. Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ.
d. What is competing for your affections today?
e. He removed that which had been good and served a purpose in the past but now had become a stumbling block. The brazen serpent which God used to direct Israel’s faith toward Him had itself become an object of worship as they began to worship shadow and form rather than the reality and substance of God Himself.
f. Hezekiah contemptuously called it “Nehustan” that is “a piece of brass”.
g. Tradition, forms of worship, and ritual can all become stumbling blocks when we place the emphasis on those things rather than on Christ.
B. He perseverance gave evidence of the reality of his faith.
1. 2 Kings 18:6 "For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses."
2. “He remained faithful to the Lord in everything and he carefully obeyed all the commands the Lord had given Moses.” – (NLT)
3. Chuck Swindoll says, “Make a commitment and keep it. Because God believes it and doesn’t forget it!” (Charles Swindoll, Living on the Ragged Edge, Guideposts, ©1985, page 153)
4. Ecclesiastes 5:4 "When you vow a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed."
5. Someone prayed: Lord, give me the tenacity and determination of a weed.
6. 1 John 2:19 "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."
7. Philippians 3:13-14 "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
III. Those who pursue God will not be disappointed.
A. God was with Hezekiah – II Kings 18:7 "And the LORD was with him…”
1. Proverbs 8:17 "I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me."
2. John 14:23 "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."
B. God Blessed Hezekiah – II Kings 18:7 “…and he prospered whither so ever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not."
Joshua 1:8 "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."
