Sermon Central
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The Saints At War
Contributed by Eli Hernandez on May 24, 2002 (message contributor)
Summary: When ever you try to live righteous before the eyes of God, Satan will try to intimidate you and destroy you, but God had a plan for deliverence
THE DEVIL CAN’T HAVE YOU
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
This sermon is about the story of King Sennacherib coming with a great army against Jerusalem. By this time history teaches that Israel is shattered. It has split into two kingdoms – the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Hezekiah was king of Judah. The dominant nation of that time was Assyria. The Assyrian king, King Sennacherib, had pretty much taken control of the surrounding areas. King Sennacherib with his great army had already captured Samaria, Israel had already been separated from the two tribes, Judah was separated from the ten tribes, Samaria had fallen and many other great empires had fallen also, Sennacherib’s army (Assyrians) had already come through Judah and captured 46 of their cities and Judah was next on his list
King Hezekiah had gotten prepared for almost two years knowing that the Assyrian army was coming. Sennacherib had an evil commander that he sent to challenge and mock Hezekiah’s people. One day King Hezekiah and the children of Judah looked over the walls, and suddenly the valleys and the hills were filled with the Assyrian army.
King Sennacherib sent his commander to King Hezekiah to ask basically for their surrender. Hezekiah sent out his people to talk with the Assyrian commander and they engage in a loud conversation and debate. The Assyrian commander began to harass the Israelites by bragging about the strength of his king and the power of his nation they ask Judah “who do you think you are to withstand this great and powerful nation”? He says we are calling for your full surrender; we want you to know that no army, no-gods have been able to stand against the Assyrian army. We have already captured 46 of your cities, you nation is gone, Israel is gone, and Samaria is gone.
King Sennacherib needed Judah in order to launch their next attack against Egypt. His commander is really disrespecting Judah and is telling them that it’s just a matter of time. He tells them “you are going to surrender any ways—so just give up”. Nobody has been able to stand against our army. He was so full of arrogance and pried that He offered Judah 2000 of their horses if Judah was able to provide 2000 trainmen to ride them. He says we know how week you are, so just give up.
SATAN IS DETERMINED TO DESTROY ANY RIGHTEOUS PERSON HE CAN FIND. HE IS DETERMINED IN DESTROYING YOU IF YOU HAVE SET YOUR HEARTS TO SEEK GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART
A. The devil had a personal fight with Hezekiah
1. Hezekiah had an evil father known as Ahaz. Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king and he had ruled for 16 years prior to Hezekiah. During his 16 years of reign, Ahaz packed more evil into Judah than any man up to this time. Ahaz closed down all the temples and had closed all types of worship. This man offered his own son as a human sacrifice. This man was the most-wicked king in the history of Judah, and during those 16 years he had devastated Judah. The glory of the Lord had departed; no one was worshipping the Lord except a small remnant. Isaiah had warned Ahaz, but he didn’t listen he just got deeper into idolatry.
2. Hezekiah took over Judah while Judah was spiritually blind; there was nothing but darkness in the land. Hezekiah came to power, and broke all family curses and patterns he was nothing like his father Ahaz. The bible says that Hezekiah did what is right before the Lord his God.
3. Hezekiah was a holy and righteous man. The first thing he did when he walked into his position was to knock all the idols down. He burned all the false gods. He dealt with homosexuality and sodomy in the land. He went into the house of God and restored and sanctified all the Levites. He cleaned the temple of the Lord, and trashed all the garbage, all filth, and all the idols that had pilled up. A revival broke loose in the land through the ministry on Hezekiah. He lead one of the greatest pass-over, it went on for fourteen days. He destroyed the brass serpent that Moses had created. The Israelites had turned it into an idol. He is quoted in the bible for saying “ We will not worship this peace of brass we are going to worship Jehovah”
B. The devils weapons have not change, He still uses the same weapons of warfare He did against Judah and Jerusalem
1. He is the father of Lies – His first lie was that he told Judah God has ordered all your present troubles, God is angry with you, and you are under judgment. He said in
