Preached by the Rev. D. J. Matheson at Inverness,
23rd May, 1933.
“And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments to seek his God, he did it with all his heart and prospered” (II. Chron. xxxi. 20, 21).”
HEZEKIAH was a God-fearing King, and, as has been from the beginning, so it was also in the case of Hezekiah, his piety evidenced itself not in mere words but in deeds. Where there is living faith it will not be apart from work. “Faith without works is dead,” and the converse is also true, viz., Works without faith are dead. Ahaz (Hezekiah’s father) was an idolater, and when his son, Hezekiah, ascended the throne he found the nation given over to heathenish and idolatrous customs and
practices. Without wasting precious time, and without compromising with evil doers, the newly-appointed King made his influence to be felt throughout the nation. It is an inestimable blessing for any nation to have those in authority who fear and love the Lord, for the example set forth by them will not be fruitless. On the other hand, it is sad for any nation when the rulers are godless, having no regard “for righteousness which exalteth a nation.”
Godly Hezekiah made short work, once he became king, of the God-dishonouring idol-worship. He broke the images in pieces and cut down the groves and threw down the high places and the altars—until he had utterly destroyed them all. The work he undertook was not left half-done, neither was it performed in a half-hearted manner. He had true zeal with knowledge and, consequently, he was enabled to do that which was to God’s glory and to the good of the nation. Ignorant zeal has been compared to a runaway horse—out of all control—leaving death very often in its trail. Like the wrath of man it worketh not the righteousness of God.
Let us now consider three lessons, and may we be enabled to learn them also, which our text suggests:—
I. It suggests that the Lord has work to do by men.
II. That whole-heartedness is necessary for the doing of it.
III. That prosperity follows whole-heartedness in God’s service.
I.—The Lord has work to do by men. It ought to be a source of wonder to us that the Most High should use any of the fallen, sinful human family for the furtherance of His own cause and the advancement of His Kingdom. He does not need man’s service or work; notwithstanding He condescends to accept of it for His own name’s sake.
At the outset, I remark, that the work the Lord is pleased with—the work which He accepts—is that of those whom He Himself engages to serve Him. In illustration of this, say that a mason-contractor had engaged a number of men for a certain building, and he submitted to them plans showing the nature of
the work to be done. The work had begun, but to the master-contractor’s surprise he found men whom he never engaged, and who were working according to their own ideas, without any regard for plan or specifications. Doubtless such conduct would be condemned by every right-thinking person. And what does God say to all such as run and are not sent by Him? “Who hath required this at your hands to tread my courts?” In effect, He says, “I have not chosen you for it; neither have I called you to it.”
It is very evident Hezekiah was a true servant of the Most High. He was raised up by the Lord to witness for Him at a time when idolatry was rife and when the enemies of God and His cause were waxing strong and having much of their own way. The Lord will have them that will serve Him while sun and moon will endure, however few they may be at any particular time or in any particular age. It is not given, however, to all the Lord’s people to serve Him in such a prominent and public way as it was given to Hezekiah. Yet each of them—though some of them may be in very lowly and poor circumstances—renders acceptable service to Him who is their Lord and Master.
(a) The Lord calls some to the work of declaring that a Saviour is provided for the lost ruined race, and a more honourable work than this cannot be undertaken in time. The message of salvation will continue to be declared by God’s faithful messengers until all “the other sheep” which are yet outside the fold will be brought in. As it is written: “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd” (John x. 16). “Then the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe all tears from their eyes” (Rev. vii. 17).
(b) Praying. This is a work of which none of God’s people can be ignorant, and it is a work which, however much it may be despised by men, will never be despised by the Lord. “The prayer of the destitute He surely will regard.” Luther used to say, “I have so much work on hand that I cannot get on with
it without three hours’ prayer.” There can be no doubt but those who are most successful in God’s service are those who give much time to this most solemn and holy duty. It has been observed, and that rightly, that prayer moves heaven, earth and hell.
It may be noticed here in passing that it is those who accomplish most in God’s service who feel they accomplished nothing—”Lord when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?” The work which is done out of regard to God, and out of obedience to His holy will, is esteemed by Him as good, right, and true. “And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah and wrought that which was good, right, and truth before the Lord his God.”
What is the standard by which the work done is to be judged to know if it be good, right and true? (i) It is not mere opinion. Great stress is laid in our day upon public opinion as if everything that did not conform with it is self-condemnatory. The flood in Noah’s time proved the fallacy of adhering to the opinion of the multitude. The multitude perished—only a few were saved. (2) Conscience is not the standard either. It can be drugged so that it becomes dull and insensible. The standard of judgment is the Word of God which is unchangeable and infallible. “To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isai. viii. 20). If the Word of God condemns what is done then it cannot be good, right, and true, irrespective of one’s own opinion or the opinion of others. The relationship in which Hezekiah stood to the Most High is the secret of the commendation here given him. The one living and true God was Hezekiah’s God. The absolute necessity of being united to Christ by living faith and thus adopted into God’s family cannot be too strongly emphasised. Without this union though we should be applauded by the whole world, our works are as filthy rags. It was not to gain popularity or to be considered faithful that Hezekiah did all that he did. He wrought that which was good, right
and truth before God, his God. To be faithful in order to be considered so is abominable before God.
II.—The second lesson to be considered is that whole-heartedness is necessary in God’s service. The Lord’s servant, John, writes to the Church of Laodicea thus:—”These things saith the Amen the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Rev. iii. 14, 16). It matters not what is performed if it be not done heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men, it will not be profitable to man or glorifying to God. It is heart work which will stand for eternity. It is the heart the Lord seeks, and such as seek and find the Lord seek Him with all their heart: “They shall seek me and find me because they seek me with all their heart.”
Hezekiah had one object in view in every work he began, viz., to seek his God. Such a high aim, and prosecuted with all the heart, could not go unrewarded. Whole-heartedness in serving the Lord is sure to be opposed. The pleasure-seeker opposes it. He may imagine that a divided heart is not incompatible with vital godliness. Sinful pleasures are indulged in by such as profess the name of Christ. You will find church members at dances and at concerts with their minister presiding. Such conduct bespeaks glaring inconsistency, and cannot under any circumstances be reconciled with whole-heartedness in serving the Lord. The friendship of the world is enmity with God. The one who is a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God will say, when his folly is pointed out to him, you are the people that would have us melancholy, miserable, and pleasureless men. The Sabbath-breaker opposes it. There are many who think they can be good enough Christians without having the least regard for the sanctity of the Lord’s Day. All who are the enemies of God’s Word oppose it. It was because of whole-heartedness in serving the Lord that the fires of martyrdom were lit in Scotland in times past. There was so much opposition
against it that many were consumed in the flames while others were banished to foreign lands. The Church of Rome is as eager to carry out her diabolical work now as she was then. She hates the truth and whole-heartedness in cleaving to it. Let us now enumerate a few reasons why whole-heartedness is necessary in serving the Lord. (a) Because of the shortness of time. The time at our disposal for rendering real service to God is so short that none can afford to be half-hearted in His service. (b) Because God will not accept but heart-service. We read of a people whom the Lord says:—”This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” (c) Because of God’s own express command in this connection: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest” (Eccles. ix. 10). (d) Because of the nature of the service. It is infinitely more important than anything conceivable pertaining to this world. It is the outcome of love to Christ. Love to Christ is not mere idle talk. It is experienced by the Lord’s people, and it is more to them than all things earthly.
III.—Prosperity follows whole-heartedness. It does not necessarily follow that temporal prosperity will be the lot of all such as serve the Lord Christ. In His sovereignty God withholds from many of His people temporal prosperity because He knows it would prove a snare to them. At the time Mr. Jay was minister in Bristol he used to get notes very often from persons who wished the prayers of the congregation. One day he received this note: “The prayers of the congregation are earnestly desired by a person who is prospering in trade.” Mr. Jay said to himself: “Here is a man who knows something of his own heart; here is a man who has read the Scriptures to some purpose.”
Very often the Lord sees fit to give poverty to His people and they prosper in poverty. They thrive better on poverty than on affluence. There can be no doubt whatsoever there is hidden prosperity where there is
whole-heartedness in serving the Lord—and there may be temporal prosperity also. In any case prosperity awaits the people of God. In eternity they will be free from everything that would impoverish them. They will be eternally rich, for there are unsearchable riches with Him who is their Saviour and friend.