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["O Come All Ye Faithful"] We should ask and seek Keep nothing at the door As Jesus, we reach another God, he is Because we do what we pray Jesus Through the kingdom of God We are to be What is true when we want and be In the Lord that's coming in to save us all We should build our backs and be We should ask and seek Keep nothing at the door As Jesus, we reach another God, he is Because we do what we pray Jesus Through the kingdom of God We see great grace When his power is still growing Everywhere that heaven holds hands to pray We should live each one is true We should ask and seek Keep nothing at the door As Jesus, we reach another God, he is Because we do what we pray Jesus, through the kingdom of God We may ask you, Jesus, we We should live each one is true We should ask and seek Keep nothing at the door As Jesus, we reach another God, he is Because we do what we pray Jesus Through the kingdom of God We should live each one is true We should ask and seek Keep nothing at the door As Jesus, we reach another God, he is Because we do what we pray Jesus Amen. Thank you, brother. Let's turn our hymnals to a song of the 143. The song of the 143, Blessed is Yours. Number 143. When salvation purchased the world For a mystery in Washington This is my story, this is my song Praising my Savior on the hill This is my story, this is my song Praising my Savior on the hill Perfect salvation, perfect divine Praising the rapture, now first on my side Angels be standing, bring love alone Angels of mercy, this is my song This is my story, this is my song Praising my Savior on the hill This is my story, this is my song Praising my Savior on the hill I miss our vision, always at rest I am my Savior and badly impressed Washing and waiting, knowing no more We will do as it was in heaven This is my story, this is my song Praising my Savior on the hill This is my story, this is my song Praising my Savior on the hill Amen. This time we'll go to the announcements. If you believe the following, we'll be doing song number 429. All right. Good morning, everybody. If you'd like to roll us in, go ahead and lift up your hand. And Adam will bring you one. As always, we have our service times there. This is the upper left-hand side. We'll be back tonight at 5.30 p.m. Again, Thursday at 7 p.m. We'll be going through the book of Acts, chapter 11. This week, we've got the salvation and baptisms for both the month and year, as well as the upcoming song schedule for this Thursday and next Sunday. And we've got the donuts this morning in honor of those celebrating a birthday in the month of July. So you've got a couple of birthdays there. Make sure you congratulate them, wish them a happy birthday. And, oh, it's somebody's anniversary. Oh, it's my anniversary. Is that today? It is today. Oh, happy anniversary, honey. I'm just kidding. But it's been 13 years. I've learned to say at this point it's been 13 wonderful years. That's something I've learned over 13 years of marriage. When someone asks you how long has it been, include the word wonderful. Pro tip that I've only recently learned. Below that, we've got the announcements regarding some of the soul winning trips. The last trip to Payson, Arizona, because we'll have knocked every door in Payson, Arizona, is this Saturday. That's about 17,000 people. So that's another small town that our church, being us in Tempe, have managed to knock here in the state of Arizona. And if you want to go and participate in that, kind of commemorate the moment, you can speak with me and we'll make it happen. Quick note about Mexico Mondays. Typically we go down there every once a month on the first Monday, but that's going to be postponed until further notice. It's not canceled. Just Brother Segura who leads it has a couple things up in the air. So he's kind of in a holding pattern. I'll get you some more information on that as soon as I have it. We've got the announcement on the back regarding the Navajo reservation. And of course the mega conference up in Tempe has kicked off this morning. Pastor Jason Robinson is preaching this morning and this evening. And then we've got Pastor Roger Jimenez from Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento. He'll be up there this Wednesday. I will be running a shuttle from Tucson to Tempe on Wednesdays. If you want to make any of those services, just make sure you sign up. And it's kind of a first come, first serve. There's about 14 spaces in the van. And we'll cram you in there. I know it can get tight, but we'll cram you in there if we need to. And we'll get up there and enjoy some great preaching. Just make sure you're here by 5 o'clock. Meaning we need to get in the van and leave at 5 o'clock. So just keep that in mind. Also there's some upcoming events below that. That will do it for announcements. Let's go ahead and just sing one more song before we get into the preaching this morning. There I know your spirit will be safe everywhere. Now that we're there, please don't forget me to be your holy heir. Lord of Asia, live for me from there. I'm living on the mountain, underneath the wildest sky. I'm drinking on the mountain, like an ocean run dry. Yes, and please feel all the better, from about to force a gun. For I am coming, and you love me. Lord, you are my soul, the land of all the world is beating. Sons of heaven and earth, the enemy will stand. Sit with my faith in the castle, all that will be treated. I'm living on the mountain, underneath the wildest sky. I'm drinking on the mountain, like an ocean run dry. Yes, and please feel all the better, from about to force a gun. For I am coming, and you love me. Let the stormy breeze in the rain, I'll make it out of the wind. I'll take my shield, you shall ignite us still. Here the sun is always shining, here there's one there for me. I say forever, give me your hand. I'm living on the mountain, underneath the wildest sky. I'm drinking on the mountain, like an ocean run dry. Yes, and please feel all the better, from about to force a gun. For I am coming, and you love me. Give me the words of God, I sing about salvation. Here we have his blessing, I sing, Lord, you make me glad. Failing in the stream, in my heaven all salvation. Let me realize that he made me whole again. I'm living on the mountain, underneath the wildest sky. I'm drinking on the mountain, like an ocean run dry. Yes, and please feel all the better, from about to force a gun. For I am coming, and you love me. Amen. Let's turn our bodies to Philippians chapter 2. That's Philippians chapter 2, as always. We'll read the entire chapter. Please follow along silently as we're ready. Fabian leads us to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. We've only got verse 1. There be therefore any consolation in Christ, with any comfort of love, with any fellowship of spirit, any vows and mercies, that kill ye my joy, that make me like-minded, and having the same love, seen on one court or one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but an oldness of mind. Let each esteem of it better than in his sight. Look not every man on his own being, but every man also on the kings of others. Let this mind be in view which also the price may bear. For being in the form of God, God did not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself with no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, that was made in the likeness of men. For being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death within the death of the cross. Wherefore God also had it highly exalted him, and given him a name which was above every name, that the name of Jesus every need should bow of things in heaven, of things in earth, of things under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, in glory of God the Father. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as my present home, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and training, that it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that he may be blameless and harmless, the Son of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom he shined his lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain, and that I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of the faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do we joy and rejoice with you, but I trust in the Lord he who has sent him fierce, shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state, but I have no man like minded who will naturally care for your state, for all seek your own, not the things which are Jesus Christ, but he knows of the proof of him that is the Son of the Father, he has served your kingdom of the gospel, and therefore I hope he is sent, presented so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly, yet I suppose it necessary to send you, Aphrodite, my brother and companion, and later a fellow soldier, but your messenger and he that ministered to my wise. For he long after you, Paul, he was full of heaviness because that he had heard that he had been sick, for indeed he was sick, and I unto death, that God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon him. I sent him, therefore, but more carefully, that when you see him again, you make a choice that I may be the less sorrowful. We seek him, therefore, and the Lord of all gladness impose such a reputation, because for the work of Christ, it was nigh unto death, nor regarding this life, to supply your lack of service for me. For that I can pray for us. Father, thank you for death today. Amen, so if you want to keep something there in Philippians 2, we'll be back at the end of the sermon, but I'm actually going to begin preaching a sermon series this week on the life of Hezekiah, on the life of Hezekiah, and we're going to look, first of all, this morning at his heredity, or his heritage, his lineage, his fatherhood, or his father's, rather, that came before him, and to do that, let's just quickly turn over to 1 Chronicles 3, 1 Chronicles 3, verse 10. Of course, if you've been with us for a while now, especially those of you that were with me as we preached through 1 and 2 Kings, you probably already know a lot of the back story here, so I'm not going to take the time to cover every aspect and every detail, the background and the times surrounding Hezekiah and his life, but if you remember, when I was preaching through 2 Kings, we read chapter 18, verse 5, I'll just read to you, speaking of Hezekiah, that he trusted the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him, and if you remember when I preached through that, I said, what a profound verse that was, the Bible describing Hezekiah in that manner, saying that there was no other king among all the kings of Judah like him before him, or any that came after him, or before him, and I kind of threatened back then that I was going to preach a series on the life of Hezekiah, so I'm making good on that threat. I don't know how long it's going to go, I don't know how many weeks, or we'll see how it goes this morning, first of all, this might just be a very short series, I don't know, but let's look, first of all, at his heredity this morning, so if you look there in 1 Chronicles, I believe I had you go there, in chapter 3, verse 10 it says, and Solomon's son was Rehoboam, Abiah his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son, Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son, Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, who is also known as Uzziah elsewhere, Jotham his son, Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, and Manasseh his son, so you have, you know, a lineage of the kings going all the way back to Solomon, and of course we see here that Amaziah, Azariah, or Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz are the fathers that are leading up to this great king Hezekiah, and if you know the story of Hezekiah, you know he wasn't perfect by any means, but the Bible does say that he was a good and godly king, and I believe some of the credit that he gets for being such a great king is the time in which he was king, the culture in which he was surrounded, the problems that he was dealing with, the society as it was in his time, the fact that he was able to make the stand that he made and able to accomplish the things that he accomplished in light of the iniquity that was around him, that's really what makes Hezekiah such a great example to us this morning, but really when you think about it, what is it that made Hezekiah the man that he was? Well, in part, obviously the Lord is the biggest factor in that, but no doubt about it, we know that fathers have an impact upon sons. That's something that is just natural. That's something that's going to take place, and no doubt these fathers and grandfathers that came before Hezekiah, they had an impact on Hezekiah, and they obviously weren't influenced to make him into the man that he was, so let's just very quickly consider some of these men. Of course, Hezekiah there is the great-grandson of Azariah or Uzziah, and I, again, won't go into all the detail here, but if you know the story of Azariah, he was not necessarily a great king. He did some good things, and he did some evil things. You'll see often when it's describing these kings that they, you know, they worshiped the Lord, but also they left the high places. They continued to allow the Baal worship, and they continued to allow, you know, the sins of Jeroboam of the northern kingdom to continue, and they weren't necessarily the greatest of men. Of course, then we have the grand... He was also the great-grandson of Uzziah, but he was also the grandson of Jotham, and Jotham's reign was a good reign. You know, we won't go into all of it. If you would go to 2 Kings 16, 2 Kings 16, and Jotham, you know, his reign was short. He lived 16 years, or he reigned 16 years, rather, but in all, you know, he was a good king, and he, being the grandfather of Hezekiah, no doubt probably had an influence on him. You know, we don't often consider, you know, the impact that we're going to have not only on those immediately related to us, our sons, but also even our grandsons that are going to come after us. Whether we have that influence directly upon them, our grandchildren, you know, the way we raise our children is going to have an impact on them. We are going to have an impact on generations to come through the lives that we live. You see this in the life of Hezekiah in his heredity. Of course, he was the son of Ahaz, and Ahaz was an evil king, to say the least, if you look there in 2 Kings 16, verse 1, it says, In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remilai, Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God, like David his father. Of course, speaking of the fact that David was his distant, you know, great-great-great-grandfather, whatever it may be, but the point being is that he did not do that which was right, in the eyes of the Lord, in the sight of the Lord. He might have done that which was right in the eyes of others, the people around him, the moral climate of his day, the culture of his day might have said, No, everything you're doing is right and good, and we approve of it, but that's not our standard. You know, we want to do things that are right in the eyes of the Lord, okay? We want to make sure that we're lining up with God's word, that we're pleasing him, and not the world around us. If we seek to please the world, they're going to have us all twisted up, and turned around backwards, and doing things contrary to the word of God. That's the world that we're living in, and this is why I think Hezekiah's life is applicable this morning, because it was in a similar situation, where people have forsaken the Lord, those around him, even those that he's ruling over, have forsaken God, they're not seeking the Lord. You know, the northern kingdom has already just been wiped out, okay, because of their idolatry. You know, he's seeing his people, his civilization, his countrymen basically crumble around him. It's disintegrating before his very eyes, and yet he manages to have this great testimony of God that there was no other kings like him, okay. And of course Ahaz here, he was the father of Hezekiah, and yet Hezekiah managed to still be the great man of God that he was. I think that's notable. What's interesting, and I won't go into it deeply here, but if you notice, is that Jotham lived 16 years, and Ahaz also reigned 16 years. So you have these two kings, one that was good, and didn't do everything perfect, then you have one who was just flat out evil, Ahaz, but they both had 16 years to reign. You know, and a quick application we can make about that is, you know, we only have so much time to do good or evil in this life. We only have so much time, you know, the wicked, they have their time too. They're going to be an influence. They're going to have their 16 years. You know, and we're going to have our 16 years. It's what we do with that. What kind of an influence are we going to be on our sons, on our daughters? What kind of influence are we going to be on our grandchildren, and yea, even on our great-grandchildren? We cannot underestimate the impact that we're going to have on generations to come. And you will have an impact, whether you intend to or not. It's what kind of an impact are you going to make? What kind of an impression are you going to make on the generations that come after you? Hezekiah, I believe, had some good, godly examples to look to. He also had some evil examples to look to in his father, Ahaz, who did that which is evil with his 16 years of reigning. And yet, he was able to turn out the way he did. Why? Because sometimes we, as sons, have to look to our fathers and learn what not to do. Let's not that be said of us as fathers. That's not the impact I want to have on my son. That's not the impression I want to make. Here, son, let me teach you what not to do. Let me show you how not to live. That's not the impression I want to make. Now, Hezekiah was able to have this great testimony in spite of his heredity and in spite of his heathen surroundings. If you would, go to 2 Kings 18. Look there in verse 1, I'll begin to read it. It said, Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. And I won't go into all of it, but if you know the story of Hoshea here, this is the last king of Israel. This is the king who's going to be carried off into captivity. Hezekiah is going to watch the northern kingdom, basically just be wiped off the face of the earth, essentially, and be carried off. Hoshea is a very wicked king. I'll just read to you from 2 Kings 15, 30. And Hoshea, the son of Elah, made a conspiracy against Pekah, who assassinated Pekaliah. So, if you remember, when we went through this, there's just all these series of assassinations taking place in the northern kingdom that's just corrupt. The son of Remaliah, and smote him and slew him, and reigned in his stead in the 20th year of Jotham, Hezekiah's grandfather, the son of Uzziah. So he's seeing this northern kingdom just fall apart. He's seeing his own people go into idolatry. He's living among a wicked people. And what we can learn from Hezekiah is that we can still live good, godly lives, despite, perhaps, a heredity that isn't necessarily that godly. Despite, perhaps, the fact that we're living among our own wicked contemporaries. And make no mistake about it, we are living in the midst of a wicked people today. People that are chasing after money, people that are chasing after adultery, people that are covetous, people that are promoting some of the most abominable things according to scripture. And saying, this is what's good, this is what's right, this is what you have to embrace. He's reigning in Judah at Israel's end. If you would, go to 2 Kings 17, look at verse 1. In the 12th year of Ahaz, king of Judah began Hoshea, the son of Elah, to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. So this is the northern kingdom. But not as the kings of Israel that were before him. Against him came up Shalmaneser, king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his servant and gave him presents. And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea. For he had sent messengers to sow king of Egypt and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria came throughout all the land and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried away Israel into Assyria and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river Gozan and in the cities of the Medes. So again, as I had mentioned earlier, Hezekiah is living in these heathen surroundings. He's living among these ungodly contemporaries of his time and he's watching his countrymen be carried off into captivity. We're living in a similar time where it's taking place spiritually. We're seeing even Christians, even Baptists today, even those that have once stood on the word of God, become more watered down, more lukewarm, more compromising, backing away from things that the world would say, hey, you can't preach that, hey, you shouldn't say that. We're seeing more and more of that take place where spiritually our countrymen, our contemporaries are being led captive by the world. They're being maybe not attacked by a literal king, but the woke leftist groups are coming at these people and trying to shut them down. That might sound like some far out nut conspiracy or something to you, but I know men of God that have been protested by these people for four years. Sunday in, Sunday out, week in, week out, followed to their homes, had threats made on their wife because they preached the word of God. To this day, right now, there's people that are standing outside churches of men of God who are actually taking a stand for the word of God and they're having to contend with a bunch of freaks standing out on their sidewalk blaring and blasting all kinds of music trying to disrupt the service in here and you know what the local police department's doing? Nothing. They said, oh, we're not going to do anything about it. It's been like that for four years. You know, we're living in a time where our spiritual countrymen, our fellow Christians even, they are under attack and yet some of them have already been carried off into captivity through their compromise and they've left only a few of us to actually take a stand and to bear the brunt of this woke society that's running us down. And that's why we looked to Hezekiah this morning because he's a great example of somebody who, despite maybe an ungodly heritage, perhaps not having a perfect upbringing, perhaps somebody who is living in a wicked time and seeing his country fall apart before his very eyes, still manages to have such a great testimony before God. We want to be that person. We want to be somebody like Hezekiah. And not only that, we want to make sure we're raising the next Hezekiah. We want to make sure we're raising the next spiritual Hezekiahs in our lives. We can be godly despite being in similar circumstances as Hezekiah. If you would, go to 1 John, chapter number 5. 1 John, chapter number 5. You know, we can be godly despite everything that's taking place in our country today. We don't have to be drowned and overcome by the flood of iniquity that's swept across this nation. You have no idea what I'm talking about. You just think that's clueless this morning, what's taking place. It's probably because the programming has worked on you. You're that frog in the pot that's slowly been boiled to where now people are just accepting everything. And if anybody speaks out against it, you know, they're ostracized. They're attacked. You know, even just by normal, quote-unquote, people. But we still can be godly despite our surrounding culture. Jesus said in John, chapter 8, verse 12, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. That's such a great verse, isn't it? I am the light of the world, he said. What do you mean, Jesus? I thought the whole world was lit up. Are you suggesting, Lord, that the world's dark, spiritually? Yes. Yes. We live in a dark, fallen world that is being ruled by the power of the prince of the air, Satan. It's his dominion. It's been given to him. You know, we wrestle against principalities and powers in high places. We wrestle against the rulers of the darkness of this world. That's what the Bible says. Is that just, you know, hyperbole? Is just the Bible being overly dramatic there to suggest that this world is fallen and that wicked, you know, workers are doing their deeds out there? No, that's what the Bible says. It's literal. And he's saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness. You know what that tells me? If you're not following Jesus, you're walking in darkness. You know, why do we want to read our Bibles? Why do we want to be in church? Why do we want to be serving God? So that we can walk in the light, even as he is in the light. And that we can have fellowship, one with another. You know, that's why we want to have a relationship with God. That's why we want to be saved and we want to, you know, have that communion with the Lord. We want to stay close to him because it's a dark world out there. And we've been given the word of God, the Bible says, as a light that shineth in a dark place. Where into you do well that ye take heed. It would do us some good to take heed to the light that God has given us in his word. Let it illuminate us and guide us through this dark world because that's what the world is. It's dark. I know it's hard to believe living in, you know, the sunny state of Arizona, where you're lucky to see a cloud even. But if you consider that one lucky or lucky thing, I don't know. You know, but spiritually, if we were to look through a spiritual lens, the world is in darkness. That's what Jesus said. And we need to learn to follow him so that we can walk in the light and have the light of life. He said in John chapter 17 verse 14, I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. You know, God has given us his word. And because we have his word, if we're faithful to it, if we preach it, mark it down, you will be hated by this world. You know, the Sennacheribs are going to come, the Assyrians are going to come, they're going to besiege, they're going to want to tear us down, they're going to stop us, they're going to shut us up. We will be hated by the world. But it's his word that causes it. That's what he said, I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. The answer is not to just try to get out of the world, let's go build a commune somewhere and all live together and just pretend nothing's taking place. We have to be in this world, we have to be kept from the evil, we have to hold forth the word of life in this dark world. You know, that word has been given to us, that light has been given unto us, it's our job to shine that light in this dark world. They are not of this world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. God has sent us into the world to be that light unto the world by walking with him and holding forth the word of life as we read in Philippians and we'll get back to you in a minute. Look there at 1 John 5 verse 19. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God has come and hath given to us an understanding that we may know him that is true and that we are in him that is true even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. I love how John says we know that we are of God and that the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God has come. So there's a couple things that we know, isn't it? We know that we are of God. We know that. You know, if we're saved, we know that we're God's child. We know we are in him. We know that we are of God. We also know that the whole world lieth in wickedness. Hopefully. Hopefully we understand that. And we've not become so naive to think that what's taking place out there is normal. We haven't become so brainwashed just to accept everything and just think, oh this is the way it's supposed to be. We ought to know that the world lies in wickedness. That the world is dark. Look, we know these things. We know that we are of God. We know that the world lies in wickedness. We know that the Son of God is come and has given us an understanding. We know these things. What we have to do today is we have to choose what are you going to focus on. What's your focal point this morning? You know these things, but what are you focusing on? Are you focusing on the fact that the world lies in wickedness? Look, some people do this. All they can think about is just everything that's going wrong in the world. All the negativity. All they can think about is everything that's just wrong and wicked and ungodly. And look, I'm not saying to be ignorant of it, but that's not what we focus on. We know that we are of God. That's what we need to focus on. That's the point I'm trying to make this morning. That's what Hezekiah did, I believe. He knows, look, I know the God of my fathers. I know the Lord God of Israel. I know what is true. I know that this world is wicked. I see the results of it taking place. I see, you know, my countrymen being carried off into captivity. I see, you know, our religion being torn down. I see all this idolatry. I see everything that's taken place. I see all these abominations. I see the wickedness. I know the world lies in wickedness, but I also know that I am of God. I know that. And that's what we need to focus on. What we know. And not that we know that the world lies in wickedness, but we know that we are of God. And He has given us an understanding. You know, you might think by the preaching this morning that I just sit at home and just wring my hands over everything that's going wrong in the world. And look, there's times where I'm extremely vexed by the things that I see. I just took a trip up to Yakima and flew through Seattle. Seattle. Yeah, you guys know. We got some people from Washington. They know exactly what I'm talking about. I've taken trips to these big airports. And so have you. And sometimes you start to look around and you see some things that just, if my children were there, I would have covered their eyes. Say, don't look at that person. Oh, I can't believe you'd say that about somebody. I can't, you know, I can't believe that people think some of the things that are walking around out there are normal. You know, that's what vexes me. Is that all the people that are standing around and they have some freak walk in, some transvestite, some tranny, walk in, walking around in public, and people have their kids just like, oh yeah, just look. And they're not appalled by it. Or maybe, you know what the truth is? A lot of people are disgust and appalled by it. They just don't have the guts to say anything. I mean, I saw one going up there. I saw a grown man in pink overalls with hearts all over it that came up to here. Tight, big old belly. With pink hair and his little pink headphones with little pink kitty ears and little pink sunglasses shaped like hearts walking around in the Seattle airport like it was just another day in paradise. And I'm instantly going through all the situations, right, because I'm like, okay, I'm in Seattle. I've got to get to Yakima. We're in the same terminal. And I'm thinking, what if he sits next to me in a plane? What am I going to do? What if I end up having to sit next to this individual? We'll consult later. You know, but I'm running through these scenarios like, okay, it's three hours drive from here. I could rent a car because I'm not going to sit next to this guy. I'm not. That I knew. It's not going to happen. It's just how much of a scene am I going to make? Then I'm looking at, you know, the ticket agent. And I'm thinking, and I'm looking up United Airlines, you know, dress code policy. And I read, well, the attendants, the ticket agents, they have the final say in what's appropriate and what isn't. And I'm thinking, could I convince that person that this is completely inappropriate? And you know what? It's completely inappropriate. It's disgusting. I don't know. Maybe you don't feel that way. I'm disgusted by it. Look, I know there's nothing I'm saying this morning. There's nothing I'm going to do that's going to turn the tide against, you know, this kind of thing that's taken over. It's too far gone. Hezekiah, you know, he was just hanging on. There was no coming back. God gave him a little time. God gave a few more kings after him some more time to just kind of spare them. But it's too late. It's too far gone. Judgment's coming. But I'm just saying, you know, I know we're not going to change anything. But that doesn't mean I'm just going to walk through my life blindingly just accepting of these things and not denying the fact that some of these things just vex me to the core and won't cease to do so. You know why things like this bother me? Because I walk in the light. No, it's because you're just this hate preacher. No, it's because I walk in the light. I know that I'm of God. I know that the Son of God has come and He has given me an understanding and I know that the whole world lies in wickedness. That's why these things vex me. That's why I sit there and run through these, you know, hypothetical situations of how I'm going to handle this situation. You know, thankfully, when the boarding call came for Portland, that's where he went. How ironic. You know, Portland, just the bastion of progressive liberal ideology. How is it turning out for them? They're being overrun. On the flight back, you know, I talked to a guy that worked in downtown Seattle and he started just telling me the horror stories of, you know, the results of these liberal policies that these cities are enacting. You know, and I told him what I do and he asked me, he said, you know, what do you think as a Baptist minister? What direction do you think the country is going? How do you think it's going to turn out? And it's funny that he asked me because I had already been thinking, how would I articulate this to somebody? I wasn't planning on doing so. And I thought, well, let me tell you. And I told him, I said, you know, I think that we're living, our country basically, as a people, we are at the pinnacle of prosperity. I mean, there's been nothing like this in all of history. This is what I told him. The prosperity that we have in this country, like, to us it just seems normal to just have the internet in our pocket. To have air-conditioned homes and air-conditioned vehicles and air-conditioned flights and we can just, you know, fly hundreds of miles, you know, safely, comfortably, enjoy a ginger ale in the way, whatever. Whereas that same trip would have, you know, like, cost people, children, you know, and months of travel. You know, the pioneers and things like that. I mean, we just take all this for granted. Look, we have experienced such prosperity in this country. It's the same story with Israel. I mean, Solomon in his day, I mean, it was the wealthiest, wisest country that ever existed. And yet they fell. Did they fall overnight? No, it took many generations. You say, where are we at? We're on the free fall. That's how I see it. This is what I told him. Well, I feel like we've been there. We've been at that peak of prosperity and now we're at that free fall. We've gone off the precipice, morally. And now we're free falling. The problem today is if people, they think they're flying. That's what I told them. I feel like we're flying and everyone's going, I'm flying. We've reached such a high height as a people and now we're flying. Look how progressive we are. We're flying. No, you're free falling. It's just that you're flying from such a high height you can't see the ground rushing up on you. And what's going to happen is, soon enough, we're going to fall far enough and people are like, oh, this isn't good. And it's going to be too late. Too late to pull the chute. It's too late. You're already falling. There is no chute. And then it's just splat. Oh, that's never happened. That's happened to every empire that's ever existed. They reach a pinnacle. They go into some moral debauchery and just crash and burn. And then another one comes up and says, oh, look at the relics. Even if we make it that far, Christ doesn't return first. That's a whole other story. That's what I told this guy on the plane. And he agreed. But that's kind of why we just close the sermon in prayer and go home and enjoy. Thanks for coming. That would be kind of a despairing sermon, wouldn't it? We're doomed. It's bad. It's going to get worse. Let's close in order of prayer. Beloved, God bless you. Thank you for coming. See you next week. Probably not. My message this morning is that we can be like Hezekiah. Look, he lived in a wicked day. He lived in a very wicked time. We'll look at it more as we go along. But we can be godly despite our surrounding culture. We can still live a godly life. I've seen people do it. You have to choose your focal point. He says, again, we know that we are of God. We know that the Son of God has come. We know that the world lieth in wickedness. What are you going to focus on? Or are we going to be somebody that just pulls the blinders on and just says, this isn't happening. This is not happening to me. This is not. It looks silly, doesn't it? That's what a lot of people are doing spiritually. They're just putting on the blindfold of media. They're just putting on the blindfold of entertainment. They're just putting on the blindfold of all these things. They're just plugging their ears and just pretending that none of this is happening and it's all coming down around us morally. That's what's going on. I just choose to acknowledge it. We know that the world lieth in wickedness. But we also know that if we follow Christ, we will have the light of life. We will walk in the light. You have to choose your focal point in the surrounding culture. We can be godly despite the world around us. We can be godly despite our Father's failings. Because this is who's to blame. How did we get here? The men that came before us. How did Hezekiah end up in the situation that he's in? Ahaz, Jotham, others, ungodly men that came before him, compromises, watered down, lukewarm Christianity. That's what's gotten us here. It's not because there's too many people getting up and preaching things like this from the pulpit and saying it like it is. It's because there's not enough of them. There's not enough people trying to stem the tide. It's our Father's failings. We might have fathers that have perhaps even failed us, but we have a godly Father. If you would go over to Deuteronomy chapter number 32. Deuteronomy chapter number 32. I'm almost done this morning. I'll begin reading in verse 4. It says, He is the rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are judgment. Oh, don't judge. Don't judge the cry of the liberal, the cry of the compromised, liberal Christian. Judge not, but you be not judged. Don't judge. That's the Bible verse most Christians know. It used to be John 3.16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believed Him should not perish by everlasting life. But now it's judge not. You should be not judged. Then he goes on and says, Judge righteous judgment. It's about judging with hypocrisy. He's saying remove the beam out of your eye. Then you shall see more clearly the mote that is in your brother's eye. Just remove it. All His ways are judgment. God is judgment. God is a righteous judge. Somebody's got to say it like it is. Somebody's got to say what's right and what's wrong. A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He. Well, let me get on His side. If I believe that, if He's perfect, if His ways are judgment, if He's truth without iniquity, just and right, well, let me get on His side. Notice verse 5, it says, They have corrupted themselves. Their spot is not the spot of children. They are a perverse and crooked generation. In the context, I believe, He's referring to even God's own people. But I want to make a distinction here between God and the people. God is perfect and just. God is a God of judgment. God is a God of truth. He doesn't have iniquity. But they are a people of iniquity. They have corrupted themselves. Their spot is not the spot of His children. They are a perverse and crooked generation. Do ye thus requite, meaning repay the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is not He thy Father that hath bought thee? Look, if you're saved this morning, the answer to that question is yes. No matter what the shortcomings of our fathers have been, we have a Heavenly Father that has bought us through Christ. And He's just. He's right. And He's perfect. And His ways are judgment and truth. And there is no iniquity. That's them. It's them that have perverted their ways. It's them that are a crooked nation today. Hath ye not made thee and established thee? And we have a Godly Father to look towards. We have a Godly example to follow even if our own fathers have failed us. Even if our spiritual forefathers have dropped the ball. God hasn't changed. God is still the same. And we know that. And we can walk in that light. I want to close on this thought though. Speaking more to fathers is that we may be the fathers that are raising the next generation of who? We looked at Hezekiah's heredity this morning. We looked at those that came before him. We want to ask ourselves, who are we raising? Are we raising the next Ahaz? Because that's possible. There's plenty of Ahaz's being raised this morning. Wicked, ungodly people who mock the things of God, don't care for the things of God. And it's possible even for godly Christians to do that. It's possible for us to do it. You know, that would be a pretty serious disappointment, wouldn't it? You say, what do you want for your kids? Oh, I want them to go to a big university and make lots of money. Okay, well then you're no different than the world. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I'm just saying, you know, if that's the only goal we have for our children, you know, we're kind of rolling the dice spiritually. Who knows how they're going to turn out? There's a very good chance they're not going to turn out living for God. That's not my goal for my kids. You know, what's your goal for your children? That they'll love God? That they'll have a spiritual example to look to? That they'll have somebody they can pad in their lives after as a Christian? So they can grow up and not be in Ahaz? Who's going to tear down, you know, the Lord's worship? And set up idols? And work abomination? And disregard, you know, the God of the Bible? That would be my greatest disappointment. You know, my son, my daughters grow up to just be simple, plain people, humble people, content people. Maybe they don't have all the world's wealth and all the world's privileges. But they love God and they know their Bible and they're a light in this world. I will say I have succeeded as a father. If I raise a Hezekiah and not an Ahaz. You know, that's what I'm working towards. The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 27 verse 6, so Jotham became mighty. Of course, this is his grandfather. Jotham became mighty because he prepared his way before the Lord his God. What made Jotham mighty? He prepared his way before the Lord. You know, that made Jotham mighty. It helped him, it benefited him, didn't it? He prepared his way and he became mighty. That's what it says. Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God. He got right with God. He got his heart right with God. He did the things that God wanted him to do. That's what he did and he became mighty. He became a powerful man of God. He did great things. But you know, it also had an effect on his grandson too. It carried on the generations after him, didn't it? It had an effect. You know, I want to be like a Jotham. I want to prepare my way. I want to become mighty. I want to take a stand against this society. I want to take a stand and as everything else is falling down around us, as the world gets darker, I just want to shine brighter for Christ. And we'll see here in a minute how we're going to do that. Very specifically. But you know, that's going to have another, you know, there's going to be a side effect, if you will, if you want to call it that. Of me being an example to my son. I mean, how do you think Hezekiah turned out the way he did? Was it because he was looking to Ahaz, his evil, wicked father? Or maybe it was because he's looking back to the generations beyond that. Behind him. The ones that came even further in the past. And patterning his life after that. You know, I don't have the godly father. I wasn't raised an independent fundamental Baptist. Far from it, my friend. I don't have that godly heritage to look to, but I have a father in heaven to look to. And I have a godly heritage spiritually of men of God that have come before me to look to. That I can pattern myself after. Men who took a stand for the word of God. And that, hopefully, will have an effect on my son as well. You know, we have to ask ourselves, who are we raising? What are we raising next? What's the generation that's going to come after us? The Ahaz? The Jotham? Maybe in Uzziah? Hopefully? Maybe? Maybe that's the best we could hope for? Who was somebody who was just kind of compromised. He did good. He did good. He did evil. He loved the Lord as God. He worshiped God. But, you know, the high places remained. He let a lot of other things go on. Kind of a mix. You want to just, well, I'll be content if I just raise a watered down, lukewarm, you know, loser. Who's just too afraid to really lift the Lord or preach God's word or take a stand for what really matters. And just go along to get along. Or can we raise a Hezekiah? Someone that's godly. Not perfect. Wasn't perfect. We'll see that in his life. If you would, I know I have you, I don't know where I had you go. But if you would go to Proverbs chapter 13. I want to look at this real quick. Proverbs chapter number 13 and verse 22. Proverbs 13. What are we leaving behind for our kids? What is the example that we're setting? Because, look, they need one. They need one. It's just getting darker, folks. It's only getting worse. And we need people to just be the example of living godly in Christ Jesus in a wicked world. Otherwise, they're just going to get swept up. And at best, you know, maybe we'll end up with an Uzziah. But can't we raise a Hezekiah? Can't we raise somebody who's willing to take that stand? And have a great testimony? I'm not saying perfect. We're all flawed. We're all going to have shortcomings. But at least somebody who's not just going to, you know, I'm not satisfied, well he didn't just embrace all of this filth that's being pushed on us. That's a pretty low bar to set. You know, my children go out and, you know, champion the rights of all, you know, just this evil agenda that's out there. We were just having shoved in our face, you know, for the last 30 days. That's not the bar I'm trying to raise or try to set. That's not the standard I'm setting. You know, but I don't want to just, you know, set the one that's say, hey, well, you know, he got along to get along. He wasn't for it, but, you know, he didn't make any waves either. I want the Hezekiah. I want somebody who's going to do something. Who's going to stand in the midst of wicked people. That's what I'm trying to raise. That's what I'm trying to leave behind. If you look at Proverbs chapter 13, look at verse 22. It says, a good man leaveth an inheritance for his children's children, and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children. That's his grandchildren. And, of course, you know, you could say, hey, that applies to finances. It's good to, you know, lay up a nest egg and pass down a physical inheritance to your children. Okay. Then it says the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. The just, you know, God's people, I've already got that inheritance. I've already got the wealth of the sinner. The meek shall inherit the earth. It's just a matter of time. You know, it's your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. I've already got that mansion in glory. I'm going to be walking on streets of gold. I've already got, you know, the physical wealth of this world through my father. I already have that inheritance. You know, a good man leaveth an inheritance for his children's children. I want to leave a spiritual legacy behind. I want to leave something that's not tangible, something they can't just deposit in an account somewhere. I want something that's going to guide them through this dark world. That's what I'm trying to leave behind for my kids. That's the inheritance I want to give them. Because, quite frankly, there's no way I'm going to leave them any kind of a physical inheritance. You know, they can have the van. It's going to cost you money to fix it, right? That's about all I'm leaving. You know, maybe a few old suits that need to be taken to the dry cleaners. That's about the amount of physical inheritance they're going to get. Dad's desk. Big whoop. You know, but I can leave behind a spiritual inheritance. I can leave behind something that's going to guide them through a dark world that's only going to get darker. This is why this is important. You know, hopefully I haven't lost you. This is why this is important. Why preach this? Because it's going to get darker. I mean, even in my short 40 years, it's gotten dark. It's gone from dark to darker than the time I've been here. I haven't been around that long. We've seen it progress. You think that ball's done rolling? It's still gaining momentum. It's getting bigger. It's getting more powerful. It's going to get darker. You know, that's why we need to be like a Hezekiah so that we can raise a Hezekiah. That's why we need to make sure we're focusing on the light that we have, embracing it, walking in it, and not just chasing after the world, chasing after the things of this world, and teaching our children to do the same. Because then who's going to hold the light? Go to Philippians 2. Go back to where you were. The Bible says in Psalm 16, Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another God. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another God. You know, this country, you know, I don't believe this country was just inhabited by the vast majority, you know, at one point by born-again believers. But it definitely had a very strong Christian influence in its founding and the years that followed, the centuries that followed, where people at the very least respected the Word of God, patterned their lives after the Word of God, even if they didn't understand the gospel. There were things they understood that were taught in the Bible that they embraced and said, this is how you live a good moral life. This is how you build, you know, a moral country, a prosperous country, by adhering to the principles and the commandments that are taught in this book. That's what they patterned after. But you know what? Our spiritual forefathers, our physical forefathers, have hastened after another God at this point. It's been generation after generation after generation of people forsaking God. And that number is increasing. Well, what's the big deal? Their sorrows shall be multiplied. You're always going to have sorrow. Life's never going to be perfect. But you know what? Their sorrows shall be multiplied. There's more of it when we hasten after another God in your personal life and as a nation. Their drink offerings of blood will I not offer nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly heritage. You know, I look around and see what a lot of other people are inheriting in this world and I say, it doesn't compare. You can have it. You know, I'll take the Lord. That'll be my portion. Those lines are fallen to me in pleasant places. I have a goodly heritage in the God. If you look at Philippians chapter 2, I'll wrap it up here, verse 12. He says, Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to do will and to do of his good pleasure. And this is Paul admonishing his spiritual heritage. If you go on and read there in verse 22, he talks about how Timothy was his son in the faith. How he was a father to him in the faith. It's his spiritual son. So he's admonishing his spiritual heritage. And he says in verse 14, Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. He's saying, Do these things so that in the day of Christ, when we all stand before God, I can rejoice over you, knowing that you've held forth the word of life, that you've done those things that I've taught you to do, that I've had an impact on you, that I've left a godly heritage behind me. How will our sons remember us? How will our children remember us? Will we be that Jotham? Will we be an Uzziah? Will we be an Ahaz? Or will we be a Hezekiah? Will we be somebody they can look back on and say, I'm going to do it just like he did. I'm going to do it just like them. What is our example going to teach them? Chase after things, chase after money, wealth, possessions, be covetous, adulterous, lust, sin, idleness to disregard the things of God. Well, you can say, I want it to be like Paul. I want to be able to rejoice in the day of Christ over these people. Well, there's a couple words in here. In verse 14, it begins with these two little letters that sometimes we don't like. Do. I wish so many things in the Christian life were just automatic. I wish I could just, you know, I didn't have to take any will or effort on my part. It just happened. There's some things you have to set out to do. If you want to have that testimony, if you want to be remembered fondly as someone who was a good spiritual example, there's some things you have to do. It's not just going to happen. And you have to do them, doing all things, whatever it is you have to do, without murmurings. That's complaining, without disputing, without arguing. Just do it. Just get it done. That you may be. He's saying, do that you may be. That's what Hezekiah had to do. He couldn't just sit around and murmur and complain about the way everything was. He had to do something. We can't just sit around and murmur and complain and focus on just how wicked everything is and wring our hands about it. We have to do something. So what is it that I have to do? Verse 16, holding forth the word of life. Now what are we supposed to do? Get into political office and get elected. Yeah, good luck with that. That's how I'm going to bring this nation back to God. I'm going to go, I'm going to get on some committee somewhere. Eventually I'm going to get myself elected to high office preaching this book. I mean really preaching it. I mean really saying what it says. No way. Go exactly nowhere. That's not where it is. I mean at best, you know, we can hope for in our leaders is that they'll, you know, they're more like the Uzziahs. They'll say, you know, these transgender, these transvestite, you know, what do they call them when they walk up and down the catwalk? The drag show, right? They don't say, you know, this is an abomination. We need to get rid of it. What they say is, hey, no one under the age of 18. Okay, I mean we're taking a real righteous stand. I mean that's what one of our representatives in this state, that was the big bold stand that he took. It's just, hey, just no one under 18. Don't go too far with it. That's, I mean, it's something. I'll take it. But it's still compromise. We have to hold forth the word of life. You know, the preacher has to get up and preach it the way it is. And we have to go out there and shine the light through preaching the gospel. You know, get people saved, get the Holy Spirit in them so maybe they won't turn into one of these freaks. They won't turn into some reprobate. They'll be able to hear the word of God and actually, you know, maybe struggle with it, maybe tangle with it, but eventually believe it. That's what we have to do. Or, you know what, you know what, we could just say, whatever, and just throw up our hands and say, he doesn't know what he's talking about, blah, blah, blah, and just go back to the way it was and just let things carry on. Well, you know what, it's just going to keep going the way it's been going then, isn't it? That's exactly how it's going to go. It's going to get darker and darker and darker. And we'll have made no change, no impact, you know, and who knows what's going to come after us. We'll just leave that to chance. You know, where we can hold forth the word of life, we can do these things without murmuring and disputing. Quit complaining, quit arguing, and just do what the Bible says. Get on God's program and maybe raise the next generation that's going to carry forth the word of life on our behalf. And then, you know what, there's going to be that day of Christ and then we can rejoice because we had some part in it. That's what we looked at this morning, Hezekiah's heredity. You know, he didn't come from some noble line of the godliest people. He had some straight up failures spiritually in his life that preceded him. People who just cast off the things of God and went full just headlong into idolatry. And yet he manages to have such a great testimony. Why? Because he trusted in the Lord. He trusted in his heavenly Father. That's what we need to do. That's who we want to raise. A godly Hezekiah. Let's go ahead and close the word of prayer. Dear Lord, again, thank you for this great example of Hezekiah. I pray in the coming weeks, Lord, that you'd have to help us to learn the lessons that we need to learn from his life, Lord. That we would learn this lesson this morning, Lord, that we might feel like we're the only ones, Lord, but we're not the first people to be in that position. We're not the first people to feel that way. No doubt there's been men like Hezekiah and countless others that have come after him who have faced similar circumstances that we do today, Lord. They've seen countries and missions fall apart before their very eyes. Lord, I pray to help us not despair, to not lose hope, Lord, but that we would trust in you and the godly heritage that we have and that we would endeavor in our lives to leave a spiritual inheritance for those that come after us. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. Alright, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we go. In the first season I will go I will love and keep me in the stream for it's flow Everywhere he leads me I will follow for the road What he gave us was thanks to the family boy All along my road I will follow Jesus Anything and everything I will follow on All along my road I will follow Jesus Everywhere he leads me I will follow for the road And in the valley with my sinner I will follow Where the storms are swinging and the stormy waters flow Where the storms are swinging and the stormy waters flow Where the storms are swinging and the stormy waters flow All along my road I will follow Jesus Everywhere he leads me I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow Jesus Everywhere he leads me I will follow for the road Let me down in the valley or up on the mountain sea Let me slide my sinner with my soul and redeem He will lead me safely in the path that he has drawn We will march away together on the hills of God All along my road I will follow Jesus Everywhere he leads me I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow Jesus Everywhere he leads me I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow Jesus Everywhere he leads me I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow Jesus Everywhere he leads me I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow Jesus Everywhere he leads me I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow Jesus Everywhere he leads me I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow Jesus Everywhere he leads me I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow Jesus Everywhere he leads me I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow Jesus Everywhere he leads me I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow Jesus Everywhere he leads me I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow Jesus Everywhere he leads me I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow for the road All along my road I will follow Jesus