_Hezekiah began to reign._ HEZEKIAH’S REFORMATION The surroundings of Hezekiah in his youth seem, at first view, to have been unfavourable in the extreme. He was the son of a depraved father. He grew up at a corrupt court. Good kings and bad follow one another in very illogical succession. It must... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sanctify now yourselves and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers._ PERSONAL CONSECRATION I. What is involved in this personal dedication? Thomas Aquinas made three kinds of baptism: Sanguinis, fluminis, fiaminis--the blood, the flood, the fire! By repentance and faith in Christ’s ato... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore _. .. _ the Lord _. .. _ hath delivered them to be tossed to and fro, to be an astonishment, and an hissing, as ye see with your eyes._ THE RESULTS OF SINNING It is easier to see than to foresee the results of sinning. If a young man won’t foresee the results of an intemperate or a lice... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel._ THE BEST COVENANT I. What is meant by making “a covenant with the Lord “ In our days it means that gracious engagement on God’s part to bestow on man the very favour which he supremely needs, and on terms of God’s own orderi... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the Lord hath chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him._ DIVINE SERVICE I. Some persons may ask, “why should we serve God? He doesn’t seem as if He troubled about us?” We admit that so far as outward appearances go, it seems as if this great universe was something like a well-regulated ma... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now they began on the first day of the first month _ A NEW YEAR IN JERUSALEM Let us consider-- I. The work done (2 Chronicles 29:18). What a grand work of an analogous character is thereby suggested--as a work, that may possibly be accomplished in the beginning of this year (1 Corinthians 3:16).... [ Continue Reading ]
_When the burnt offering began, then the song of the Lord began also._ SACRIFICE AND SONG This chapter contains a brief, graphic account of the great reformation which Hezekiah wrought in the beginning of his reign. The text is part of that account. I. How often these two things--sacrifice and so... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord._ CONSECRATION The reign of Hezekiah was like the spasmodic brightness of a candle about to go out for ever. The root principle in consecrating anything is the recognition of God’s exclusive ownership. I. A real consecration is an act of free will... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the thing was done suddenly._ QUICKLY DONE I. That God very often appears to work with a suddenness that is startling. 1. In the realm of nature. (1) Storms. (2) Earthquakes. (3) The transition of the seasons. 2. In the realm of providence. (1) Israel’s deliverance at the Red Sea. (2)... [ Continue Reading ]