(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . God's just gonna get angry, and you know what? Maybe you could fall through the proverbial lattice, and then you're gonna get some bad news, okay? So don't feel bad for Ahaziah in the story. He gets what's coming to him. He deserves everything he's got coming because he's provoked to anger the Lord God of Israel. You know, and people have this very narrow, one-sided view of God today that God is somebody that never gets angry. But it's like, have you ever read the Bible? I mean, God is just angry, angry all the time. I'm not saying God is always angry, but you know, people are making God upset quite a bit in the Scripture. And that's something we have to take into account. I mean, consider the fact that God could have spared Ahaziah. We know how, you know, spoiler alert, in case you weren't listening to the Scripture when it was being read, Ahaziah ends up getting killed. He dies of this injury that he receives from falling. But, you know, God could have spared him. I mean, it made me think of Acts 20 where you have Eutychus, you know, when Paul is preaching long. And that's always a very encouraging sermon to me. You know, if people are nodding off and falling asleep when Paul's preaching, you know, I'm kind of like, well, you know, I mean, if they're gonna fall asleep on him, then it doesn't make me feel so bad, you know. But if you fall out of the chair or something like that, I don't know that I'm gonna be able to revive you either. So, you know, take that into account. But, you know, Eutychus, he falls out of the third story window because Paul preached long, right? And he falls and he hits the ground and the Bible says he was taken up dead. But then Paul goes down and restores him and he comes back to life. So God, it's very, obviously, God could have spared Ahaziah's life. He could have taken pity on him. But he didn't because of how wicked he was, because of how unrepentant he was. So what did he do that was so bad? Well, verse 2, it says that he fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber and was in Samaria. And then what does he end up doing? He sends his messengers to go inquire of Beelzebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover of this disease. So when he wants to find out if he's gonna get better, he doesn't go to the Lord God of Israel. He doesn't go to the Lord God of his fathers. And it's not like he was ignorant of who God is. Obviously he would have known who the Lord is. He would have been, you know, very familiar with the Lord back then and they still had a righteous remnant. You know, he knew about who Elijah was just from a vague description. So obviously he's very familiar with the Lord. In fact, he could even look back in his father's life and see God's judgment and see God also show mercy onto Ahab. If you remember in 1 Kings Ahab, when he repented for his sin, you know, that God showed mercy onto him. It says that he went lightly in sackcloth and he put ashes on his head. And God said, you know, I'm gonna spare the judgment in his day. Now he was still judged. Remember the dog still looked up his blood. But you know, he didn't destroy, because he said he's gonna cut off the seed of Ahab forever. He said, I'll do it in his son's days. Why? Because a man, even as wicked as Ahab, when he repented and sought the Lord, God showed mercy on him. So it's not that Ahaziah was beyond God's mercy, it's just that he didn't want it. It's just that when he was doing wrong, when he was provoking the Lord God to Israel, he just really didn't care. And look, if that's our attitude, we're just like, well, you know, we just flaunt things in God's face, we just flaunt sin in God's face. Don't be surprised when God gets angry and judges you. And don't come looking for pity either. Honestly. If we are willfully sitting against God, and we're just, you know, God's judgment comes, I don't know that I really have a lot of pity for people in that position. They should have known better. And they go ahead and they do something anyway, and God judges them. I mean, that's what's happening in this story. Because, again, Ahaziah is just, you know, blaspheming God, he's just being evil, and he's provoking God. And then when he has a problem, he doesn't go to God, he goes to some false god, and he's literally violating the first commandment. Thou shall have no other gods before me. I think I remember reading that somewhere. And that wasn't news to him. But what's he got? He's got Beelzebub, he's got Belial, he's going to worship Baal. He's worshiping anybody but God. He's putting any god he can before the Lord God. And God as a result gets upset and just says, well, you're dead. I'm going to kill you. I'm going to let you die. A painful death. God, you know, doesn't take this lightly. God doesn't take it lightly when people just flaunt things, when people just disregard him, when people just flaunt their sin in his face, when people just, you know, make a mockery of him, or just disregard his word. In fact, if you would, go over to Proverbs 28. Proverbs 28, verse 9. I mean, Ahaziah here, he's just, you know, he's just mocking God, and he ends up getting himself into a pinch, and he starts seeking after some false heathen god. When, you know, he's a descendant of Israel, he's the king of Israel, a people that was delivered from Egypt by the Lord God himself and told, thou shalt have no other gods before me. And he's just pulled a complete 180 on that. And what has he done? He's disregarded the law of God. But look at Proverbs 28, verse 9. It says there, he that turneth away his ear from the hearing of the law, even his prayer shall be abomination. And that's exactly what Ahaziah is doing in the story. He's not, he's turned away from the law, he's provoking the Lord God to Israel, Lord God to anger, excuse me. And now, when he's got a problem, you know, now when he's looking for help, you know, when he's reaching out and he's looking for some help, you know, albeit he's going to a false god, God looks at his prayer and says it's an abomination. And it's going to be the same thing in our lives. If we just disregard God, disregard his commandments, if we just turn away our ear from the hearing of the law, and we find ourselves, you know, we fall through a lattice one day, we get injured, we're in some difficulty, and all of a sudden we're calling on God. Don't be surprised when God hears that prayer and says, oh, it's an abomination. And that's what the Bible says. And you know, verse 10 is very descriptive also of Ahaziah. If you look there, he says, who so causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself. Isn't it interesting that, you know, you have a guy who's going after the gods of Jeroboam, the false gods, the two golden calves, or excuse me, Jeroboam, and he's, you know, he's turning his ear away from the law, and he's doing what? He's leading Israel away from the Lord through his example. He's leading them away from God, you know, just like it says, who causes the righteous to go astray in an evil way. What's going to happen to him? He shall fall himself. And isn't that exactly what happens to Ahaziah? He falls. You know, the Bible obviously in Proverbs is talking figuratively, it happened literally to Ahaziah. He literally falls through a lattice. And it says he shall fall into his own pit, but the upright shall have good things in possession. You know, God will bless the person that doesn't turn away his ear from the law, that obeys the commandments of God. You know, it's going to be well for that person. You know, God doesn't take this lightly, and it's evidenced by the fact that, you know, it's not like God saw this happen and just said, well, I'll just let him go inquire of his false god, I'll just let him go to Beelzebub, and just, you know, find out that that's a false god, and eventually he'll die of these wounds anyway. God goes out of his way to send a guy to say, hey, go tell him that he's going to die. Go tell his messengers to go back and say, don't even bother, Ahaziah, you're dead. That's what God does in the story. It's not, I mean, God could have just sat back and nothing was going to happen if he went to Beelzebub. It's not like God was like, well, we better intervene in case they go and find out that Beelzebub actually has some power. It's not like God was worried about him being healed through this false god. God's like, you know what, rather than just letting this play out, I'm going to actually get involved in the situation, and I'm going to send my man of God, I'm going to send Elijah over there to actually just go right to his messengers and say, you're dead. Oh, you're looking for some help? Well, too bad you don't get any. You're dead. Oh, you're looking for some good news? Sorry, it's only bad news for you. You see what I'm saying? I'm not going to pity wicked people that mock God, that disregard God, that cause other people to go astray, that have angered the Lord to this point. God certainly isn't pitting Ahaziah in the story, is he? And you say, well, why not? Well, there's no repentance. Look, if there's repentance, if there's sorrow, if there's a sincere, genuine desire to do right and get the sin out, yeah, okay, mercy, grace, pity, but there's none of that here. And when people are just being stiff-necked and hard-hearted and just being set in their own ways, and, you know, there's just no pity there, because God's not extending any. I'm not saying mercy isn't available, I'm just saying they're not getting it because they're not looking for it. And when we're not looking for it, we're not seeking it, when we don't want it, you know, God doesn't just sit by a passive laser, he's actually sending things into our lives. He's sending a man of God into his life to just, you know, tell him, hey, it's over, bud. Sorry, don't even bother going up there. Nothing's going to happen. You're dead. You know, he sends a messenger and it just further evidence the fact that, you know, God doesn't show any pity, you know, and I won't either. Honestly, you know, I don't care who it is. If somebody in this church gets into sin, you know, don't expect for me to just sweep that under the carpet and act like nothing happened. You know, and I don't care, you know, if it's people I love, and look, I love everybody, okay. I love everybody in the room. But I don't care who it is. If people get into sin, you know, and they're unrepentant, you know, I'm not going to be like, oh, well, you know, it's not a big deal. I mean, we all sin, right? Well, we're not all fornicators, we're not all adulterers, we're not all drunkards, we're not all extortioners, we're not all covetous, and these are sins, according to 1 Corinthians 5, that'll get you kicked out of church. You know, and the Bible says in 1 Timothy that Paul charged Timothy and said, I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. That's a charge that Paul gave Timothy, a preacher, in the sight of God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels, to do nothing by partiality. You know, so when people get into sin, you know, as much as I might love them or care about them, you know what, if there's no repentance, there's no mercy. If there's no sorrow, there's no forgiveness. You know, and that's the point of church discipline, that people would, you know, would get right with God. And I'm telling you, I'm not suspecting, you know, everyone's like, oh, who is it? It's nobody, okay. This is preventative preaching, okay. And this is in, you know, you say, what do you mean you're not going to show pity on people? Well, let me get specific for a minute. You know, I don't care who it is, if people start committing sins that are going to bring the wrath of God and, you know, and rob the rest of the people in this church of the blessing of God, you know, according to scripture, I will kick you out of this church so fast your head will spin. And I'm, you know, just a word of warning, just throwing that out there so you can't say, well, I didn't know. It's like, well, you know, you should have listened. Well, it wasn't there. Well, you should have been there. Or you should have gone back and watched it online. Or, you know, you should, I'm sure I haven't, I've probably preached this more than once. So there's a little application for you. Let's move on in our story. He says there in verse 4, Now therefore, excuse me, verse 3, but the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel that you go to inquire Baal's above the God of Ekron? So he's actually sending Elijah to go and call him out and deal with the situation. He says, Now therefore, thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shall surely die. Oh, that's not a very nice message. Man, that's Elijah. What a rough guy. Well, you know, that's the message God has. No pity. No mercy. Judgment. And it says that when the messengers turned back down to him, he said to them, Why are you now turned back? It's like, it takes a little longer to get over to Ekron. How did you get here so fast? So he's already suspecting what's up. And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Is it not because there is a God in Israel that thou sent us to inquire Baal's above the God of Ekron? Therefore, thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shall surely die. So, you know, props to the messengers here. They literally deliver the message word for word. They didn't hold anything back either. And he said unto them, What manner of man was he that came up to meet you and told you these words? You know, I'm wondering, like, did you get a name? You know, he's like, Well, what did he look like? I would have been like, Well, did you get his name? You know, apparently they didn't get his name. And they answered and said, Well, you know, maybe it's Elijah wasn't given it out. You just say, My name doesn't matter. It's the message that matters. It's not about me. It's about what you need to go tell him. That's probably the application there. But verse eight, he says, And he answered and said, He was a hairy man and girt with a leather girdle about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite. So, you know, I thought about this verse like how I'm going to preach that. He's a hairy guy. You know, that's how they recognize them. I don't know. You know, I like to think that I could be a man of God like Elijah, at least to some degree. I don't ever, I probably never even clumped close to filling those shoes, obviously. But there's at least one attribute here that I think I kind of got down. The hairiness. You know, so, you know, take it easy on me when things get a little bushy up here. All right, maybe I missed the cut that week and the neck hair starts to tough out, you know. And, you know, because Elijah was a hairy man. So maybe you should just be thankful that you got a guy who resembles Elijah, at least to some degree. You know, he got the hairy knuckles up here and everything else. But, you know, it kind of does make me wonder, like, how did they, what did they mean by he was a hairy man? You know, like, did they, was he, and then they described him as being hairy and only being girt with this leather girdle. Right? Now, it doesn't say that he didn't have anything else on, but I'm wondering, like, is he just walking around shirtless? I mean, maybe he's that hairy. He's got, like, the man sweater going on. You know, or something like that, you know, where he's just walking around trying to stay cool. You know, I don't know, but that's, you know, my wife was like, that's not it, you know. She's like, it's like you, you know, when you don't, if we didn't cut that back there, it would just all, you'd turn into one giant neck beard. It would all just grow up, you know, into your head. So maybe that's what it was, you know, he just, he was kind of shaggy looking or something like that. I don't know, but one thing's for sure is that Elijah isn't this prim, proper, polished, just, you know, perfect looking man, this preacher. Like a lot of these guys you'll see today where they're just, you know, they've just, from head to toe, they're just all about the look, you know. And look, I'm not saying we shouldn't get up here and try to, you know, keep ourselves groomed. We shouldn't put on something nice, you know, brush our teeth, you know, the whole thing, right. And I'm not saying we should get, like, I'm going to come to church, you know. I'm not going to read this and be like, well hey, my turn, you know. I'm going to put on a leather girdle and just get up here and preach, you know, obviously. But you know what I'm talking about, there's these other guys out there, you know, some of these preachers were, you know, like the TD Jakes, right. You got the polished wing tips and you got the long coat all the way down to the knees and it's bright yellow and, you know, the bright flamboyant tie. And, you know, the preachers that get up and they're just all about their looks, right. That's not Elijah. And you know, it's probably because when you're delivering a message, multiple, like multiple messages, like Elijah delivered over the course of his ministry. The way you dress isn't going to make a difference. It's not going to be like, man, he told me I was going to die, but he was sharp looking. But man, he was dialed in to the nines, you know, he had that cologne on, you know, he was looking really good. He had that fresh, you know, fade just done. But then he told me I'm going to die, right. So, you know, that's what we as preachers need to emphasize. The message. You know, not get so wrapped up in an image. But notice here, the king, it says in verse 9, he recognized him and says, oh it's Elijah the Tishbite, so his reputation has preceded him. And it says in verse 9, then the king sent unto him, so the king sends unto Elijah a captain of 50 with his 50, and they went to him, and behold he sat on the top of a hill, and he spake unto him, thou man of God, the king hath said, come down. Now, there's a few things about this that kind of stuck out to me, and one is that if, you know, Ahaziah is, you know, forsaken the Lord, and is following Beelzebub, what does he care what Elijah has to say? What does he care about what some prophet of God has said? He's inquiring of Beelzebub. He's going to Ekron. He's sending his men, you go talk to them, get the word of God from them. But then he gets a negative message from the real man of God, from Elijah, and all of a sudden it's like, well let's get him over here. Let's go send 50 guys over there, and pull them down off that mountain, and let's get him over here. And it kind of makes you scratch your head, like why is he so worried about it? Look, when people, you know, reach out to me through email, they reach out to the church, you know, through voice mail and email and things like that, and they'll say all kinds of nasty things, or they'll tell us why we're wrong about this and wrong about that, and I already know, well you're actually one that's wrong. You know, it's Jesus, not Yeshua. You know, it's not Yehu or whatever other made up, you know, Judaizing name you want to tell me it is. But then, you know, they want us to approve of that. Why are they so, it reminds me of that, why are they so need us to, you know, approve them? Look, when people tell me I'm wrong and I don't agree with them, I'm just like, okay, see you later. This Yeshua guy that's emailing me, I just said, he just gave me this, you know, just one solid paragraph with like no punctuation in it going on and on about Yeshua, and I just replied, you sound like a raving lunatic. Period. Because he sounded like a raving lunatic. You know, it's like maybe that will kind of shake you a little bit. Oh, that's all you got? You know, and then it's just another, I'm done with you, man. It's like adios. Literally, I did a little hand emoji. Adios. You know, but then it's like, you know, well, why do you have to even try to convince me of anything? It's because people have a need to persuade. It reminds me of like, you know, atheists who don't believe the Bible. They don't believe in God. They're like Ahaziah. You know, they have nothing to do with the Lord. They've got their own false religion over in Ekron. Ek-ro-lution. Ev-ro-lution. Whatever. Maybe some of you more clever can come up with a better name. Right? But boy, they just seemed really hell-bent on, you know, canceling our YouTube channels and shutting us down and blasting us on social media. Which is fine with me. Whatever. It's par for the course. Go ahead. Do your worst. You could shut down every platform there is. You'll never take this platform away where I'm preaching to people face to face. You'll never take the platform of me going out and knocking every door in Tucson away and reaching people that they'll never reach. You know, there's lots of people in this world that'll never hear about some of these atheists that are gonna hear from me. And are gonna hear from God. And are gonna hear from you. And are gonna hear the Gospel. So do your worst. You know, I've still got a ministry. My ministry isn't YouTube. I'm not saying it isn't useful. I'm not saying it isn't frustrating when it happens. But the point I'm making is this. They kind of remind me of these Ahaziahs. They're kind of an Ahaziah in a way. You know, they want to get an answer from this false god over here. They've got their own beliefs. But then the man of God says something different. It's like, oh well, let's get him over here and deal with this. Can't have him just saying whatever he wants. Why? It's because they have a need to persuade is what it is. And who are they trying to persuade? Themselves. That they're right. Because in the back of their mind, they know they're wrong. They know there is a God. They know there is a heaven. They know there is a hell. You know, Ahaziah knew that Elijah was a genuine man of God. That he was the real deal. But you know, if he could kill him, if he could do something to him, if he could somehow get one over on him, then maybe what he said won't be true. Maybe it will help Ahaziah soothe his own conscience in a way. So he sends these guys. And notice how these men speak to Elijah. It says there, he sat on top of a hill. Now this should be easy for us to kind of imagine the situation. So why don't they just run up there and get him? Well it's probably not something that just 50 guys could just run up. And they're thinking, why don't you just come down? It's probably like an A mountain over here, Sentinel Peak. It's like some rocky ledge on one of these scrubby mountains kind of similar to what we have around here. Where he's kind of hanging out on a precipice that's only big enough for him. It doesn't matter how big an army you bring, you're not going to get him down. It's like, well why don't you just come down? The king has sent for you. But notice they're like, thou man of God, the king has said come down. There's no respect here. There's no entreating him. It's just hey, you need to come down. And they're just being very authoritative. And Elijah says in verse 10, answered and said unto the captain of 50, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy 50. There came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his 50. But notice what happens after that, again also he sent unto him another captain of the 50 with his 50. I mean at some point wouldn't you just get the message? Like well maybe this is going to, maybe what Elijah said is true that I'm just going to die. But the need to persuade is so strong. He has such a disdain for the Lord God and the man of God. He's like no I have to get this guy. I have to tear him down. I have to bring him down from that mountain, from that hill. I have to bring him down to my level. And he's willing to sacrifice other people. I mean once you've just had your captain and 50 dudes just burn up from fire from heaven. To me I've been like oh okay, never mind. Sorry about that. Let me go get a pail and a broom and sweep up the dust. Let me get the ashes out from all these burnt up bodies. But no he sends unto him another 50 and he answered and said, Oh man of God, thus hath the king said, come down quickly. So now he's kind of, it's not just come down, it's come down quickly. No you get down here right now mister. This is how they're talking to Elijah. The guy who, this isn't the first time he's called down fire folks. Remember the prophets of Baal? He slew the prophets of Baal and he's calling down fire from heaven. I mean he's a mighty man of God and it's well known. I mean he's so well known at this point you can just say, Oh he was a hairy guy. Oh it's Elijah. They don't even have to describe him in great detail. That's how well known he is. And now this guy is just like come down quickly. There's no reverence, no fear of God. There's no fear here. It's completely absent. And we know the story and Elijah answered and said in verse 12, If I be man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee in that 50. And the fire came down of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50. And then you would think okay twice this has happened now. Surely he's gotten the message. Nope. And it says in verse 13, And he sent a captain of the third 50 with his 50. Now the third captain, you know if you're the third guy that's being sent, you kind of already know how this is going to go. So at least he has enough sense to like show some respect. And like not just go up there all sassy. It's going to tell him how it's going to be. And he goes up there the third captain of the 50 went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah. And besought him and said on him, Oh man of God I pray thee let my life and the life of these 50 of thy servants be precious in thy sight. So he's literally begging for his life. He's going and just pleading that he would not be destroyed by Elijah. Because it's already happened to his companions. Let my life and the life of these 50 of thy servants be precious in thy sight. Behold there came down fire from heaven and burned up the two captains of the former 50's with their 50's. Therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight. So he's just saying let my life be precious. Let their life be precious. Let my life be precious. Don't kill me. And what he's showing here, you say well he's afraid. Well yeah he's afraid. But you know fear is a form of respect. Fear isn't this dirty word that we have to avoid. Fear is something that is perfectly natural. And some people just they have this attitude of well I'm just not afraid of anybody or anything. Well you know there are some things in life you should be afraid of. You know God is one of them. The Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I mean just go look up that phrase the fear of the Lord it's all through scripture. You know God is going to bless and show mercy unto the person that fears him. You know I don't know if it's still a thing but I remember back in the day you know they had these stupid stickers on their car. No fear. Who remembers that? No fear. Oh you're so bad. You put a sticker on your car it says no fear. It's like yeah. I'm not like what you speed or something or what? What are you not afraid of? Speeding? I drive until the gas tank gets all the way down to E man. Because to me E just means eh you can make it. Because I have no fear. Right? I guarantee you that guy who puts the no fear sticker wears the no fear shirt. Probably nobody does that anymore. I guarantee you he's afraid of something. And you know what? Even if he thinks he isn't you could put him in a situation. I always have reverence and fear. So this is what this guy is doing you know he's showing some real fear here. And you know it's unfortunate for Ahaziah because if this had been his attitude you know his life might have been spared. You know if he fell through that lattice and kind of you know maybe came to his senses. And said maybe I should seek the Lord God. You know his life could have been spared. God's done that several times. We talked about it with Ahab. Others you know that God has spared. Because of the fact that they had some humility. That they expressed fear. That they humbled themselves in the sight of God. And he lifted them up. So he comes and says hey let us be precious in thy sight. And he's basically saying come down. Right but he doesn't really the words don't even come out of his mouth. He doesn't even say come down quickly come down. He just says don't kill me. You already know why I'm here. Please don't kill us. Please. And the angel of the Lord said unto Elijah go down with him be not afraid of him. And he arose and went down with him unto the king. And then he gets there and he says well you know. Hey Isaiah I've been kind of hard on you lately. I know I burned up a hundred of your guys. You know I'm going to soften up a little bit here. And take it easy on you. Thanks for reaching out to me. No he says he said unto him. Thus saith the Lord for as much as thou has sent messengers to inquire of Beelzebub the God of Ekron. Is it not because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? So his message hasn't changed. He's standing by his stuff. He's still preaching the same message. Therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed in which thou art gone up but shall surely die. It doesn't change a single thing. It just keeps right on preaching. Oh he wants to see me in person? Oh he wants me to come say it to his face? Okay I'll go say it to his face then. Oh the messengers weren't enough? What is Isaiah expecting here? A different answer? You know Isaiah just wants to intimidate him. Wants him to change his message through intimidation. But you know Elijah's not going to be back down like that. And what Isaiah should have learned is that he was the one that needed to be afraid. He was the one that needed to get some humility. And actually fear God. And not try to intimidate God's man. Man of God. And he says hey you're going to die. You say well isn't that kind of harsh? That God is just going to let this guy die? Yeah but he says therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed. What's the therefore there for? For as much as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Beelzebub. Which is literally you know devil worship. It's satanic. You know you've disregarded God. You've angered him and then you're going to inquire of demons and idols. You know so therefore you're going to get what's coming to you. So there's just no pity in the story and I'm bringing it back to that first point. There's no mercy being shown to this man because he doesn't want it. You know he's just trying to force the man of God to change his message. He's trying to intimidate him. There's no humility. There's no repentance. None of that. You know and when we don't show repentance. When we don't you know aren't sorry for the things that we've done. You know God's not going to take it easy on us. If we want God to soften up on us you know we should soften up ourselves. Maybe we should start doing those things that please God. Verse 17. So you know it's a pretty basic message tonight. We need to learn to fear God. You know ideally we'll do it before we ever find ourselves in need of God's mercy. And look we're all going to be in need of God's mercy. I get that. We're all going to make mistakes. But if we're just being blatantly rebellious towards the things of God. If we're just willfully sinning, just getting into sin, knowing what we're doing is wrong. We should be like this captain and throw ourselves on our knees and beg for mercy. And you know what? He was spared. The angel says yeah go with him. Alright we won't burn this guy up because he's showing some humility. He's had some respect. He has some fear. Or we could go Ahaziah's route. Right? And just be stiff necked and hard hearted. But you know what? He that hardens his neck after being offered proof shall be destroyed suddenly and that without remedy. You know we harden our hearts long enough. We stiffen our necks hard enough. Or long enough eventually it's going to be destruction without remedy. There was no remedy here. You know Ahaziah wanted a remedy but he didn't want to get it from God. He didn't want to do what was necessary to get it. Because that would have required some humility. That would have required him getting some sin out of his life. But those are the things that are required if we want God to show us mercy. With the merciful thou wilt show thyself mercy. With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure. That's what we want from God. It's a two way street. So hopefully we never get in that position at all. Hopefully we avoid that like the plague. Let's go ahead and pray. Dear Lord again thank you for this great book in 2 Kings. Lord I pray that you would just help us glean many lessons from it in the coming weeks. Lord that we would be blessed having been here for the preaching of it. Lord I pray you'd help me to preach those messages that are applicable. And Lord I pray that you would just help us all to be humble people. People that recognize our need for mercy and grace from you. And Lord that we wouldn't just demand these things from you. Lord that we would entreat you and that we would humble ourselves. And Lord that we would just walk humbly with our God. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. Alright we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we go. The joy of the free and the home O'er the prairie golden shore Where the faithful darlin' roar Where the storms of life roar in the air Where the light of songs are playin' Makes the pure and perfect day I am long and long to stay in the air In the air, in the air Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the storms of life roar O'er the happy golden shore Where the faithful darlin' roar bein' there We are one with strength to be here In the air, in the air Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there In the air, in the air Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there In the air, in the air Where the storms of life roar O'er the happy golden shore Where the faithful darlin' roar bein' there Where the hearts of angels ring In the blast we'll ever sing In the palace of the king we'll be there Where we sing the wind we play The one with all the friends play In the world where man shall be there We'll be there We'll be there We'll be there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the storms of life roar O'er the happy golden shore Where the faithful darlin' roar bein' there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Where the sweet and light is bringin' me there Thanks for watching!