Did You See?

I'd like you to turn your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 20. 2 Chronicles chapter 20. What kind of message do you preach when God does something like this? And I'm starting a new series next week. Uh it's one that maybe some of you heard before. I've preached it in the past, but it's a series that really changed my life in many ways and affected me. And I I believe it's one that God is leading me to preach again. I promise you I'll keep it fresh and and alive for you. those you may have heard of before, but um series is titled King Meet and it takes a look at the kings of the Old Testament. The Old Testament is written for our admonition.

It's written for our lesson that we might learn from their lives. And there's good kings and there's bad kings and there's kings that were in between. What made a good king? What made a bad king? And and as I was preparing this message, doing different things, I kept coming back to one of the messages from that series. And that's 2 Chronicles chapter 20. 2 Chronicles 20 and I want you to look at verses 15- 22. We're looking at the King Jehoshaphat. And it says in verse 15, he said, "Hearken you all Judea." This is not the king, but it's uh the the priest, the the prophet of God, "Hearken all you Judea and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou, King Jehoshaphat, thus sayeth the Lord unto you, be not afraid nor dismayed by the reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.

Tomorrow go ye down against them. Behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz, and you shall find them at the end of the brook before the wilderness of of Jerome. And then uh verse number 17, you shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, oh Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not, nor be dismayed. Uh tomorrow go and uh out against them, for the Lord will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground. And all Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord worshiping the Lord. And the Levites of the children of the Kotites and the children of the Korites and stood by up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

And they rose early in the morning went forth into the wilderness of Takcoa. And as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God. So shall you be established bel believe believe his prophets so shall you prosper. But when he had con consulted with the people he appointed singers unto the Lord and that should praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army and to say praise the Lord for his mercy endureth forever. And when they began to sing and to praise the Lord set ambishments against the children of Ammon Moab and the mount Seir which were come out against Jerusalem and they were smitten.

For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of the Mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them. And when they had made an end to the inhabitants of Seir, everyone helped to destroy another. And when Judah came towards the watchtower in the wilderness and looked under the multitudes, and behold, there were dead uh bodies falling to the earth and and and none escaped. God gave them a great victory. But you want you to notice a couple things about this great victory. And that is that that the victory that God gave them. Look at uh chapter 20. Look at verse number three. And Jehovah feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed fast throughout all uh Judah.

Uh he he was afraid. And you know the Bible says in Psalms 56 and verse number three, "What time I am afraid I will trust in thee." Uh I'll be honest with you, I was very fearful about what was going to happen with this lease. Could we afford it? Could we pay it? how can we afford doubling of the rent? Uh and and I was afraid about that. And fear is a natural reaction to our circumstances. And in verses 1 and two, it says, "It came to pass after this also that the children of Moab and the children of Aean and and and with them other besides the Ammonites came against Jehoshaphat in battle. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria.

And behold, they be in Hazmat, which is uh in in Jedi. And you know, they were about 25 miles away from the capital of Jerusalem. And and and they were being attacked by an overwhelming force. And you know, when you have that kind of situation in your life, it's just a how do you handle that? In Ecclesiastes chapter 9 and verse 12, it says, "For man also knoweth not as time as the fishes that are taken evil net. And as the birds that are caught in the snar, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time when it falls suddenly upon them." And in our life, we get we get news like you have cancer or or you get news you've lost your job or or there's a death in your family.

And those times, we can't help but react in fear and and what's going to happen now? And and we should be afraid. In in Luke 14 31-33, it says, "What king going to make war against another king sitth not down first and consulted whether be able with 10,000 to meet him that cometh against him with 20,000? Or yet or else while they are yet a great way off, he sent an ambassad. So likewise, whosoever be of you that forsaketh not, all that he hath cannot be my disciple." And when you face an overwhelming force, when you face an overwhelming situation, that's the time you got to sit down, decide, what am I going to do here?

What am I going to do? And and that fear ought to cause you to step back and say, I I can't win this victory. I I need God to be the one to give me the victory. In Joshua 1 and verse number nine, it says, "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, with usoever thou goest. That's an amazing verse. It's a It's a diff I don't know about you, but it's a hard verse to put in practice. Uh we've known about this lease since we got the original lease. We when we signed the original lease, we figured if we had to walk away in 2026, we were going to still save money.

But we really just were trusting the Lord of what he was going to do. But the closer that lease came and the more I heard about how prices were going up and more I was told that you can expect double or more. I I don't know about you but I was being afraid. I was wondering how are we going to do that? And uh but God says listen be strong in the Lord and be of good courage because God is the one that's going to fight this battle. The Lord thy God is with thee with usoever thou goest. You see the thing we have to remember is that the odds are on our side. Look at 2 Chronicles chapter 20. Look at verse 15.

He said, 'Hearken you all of Judah and yehab in Jerusalem and thou King Jehoshaphat, "Thus sayeth the Lord unto you, be not afraid, nor dismayed by reason this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's." It may be a great multitude is against us, but God is the one that's on our our side. Uh Joseph was one of the good kings and his dad, his father was also one of the good kings, Assa. And I love what Assa said when he faced kind of the same situation back in 2 Chronicles chapter 14 and verse 11. If you'll take a look there with me, uh 2 Chronicles chapter 14 and verse number 11. 2 Chronicles 14:11.

He cried unto the Lord his God and said, "Lord, it is nothing with thee to help whether we be many with many or with them that have no power. Help us, oh, oh Lord, our God, for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude, oh Lord. Thou art our God. Let no man prevail against thee. And you know, we need to realize that God is the one that wants to give us the victory. God is the one that wants to go into battle for us. In 1 John chapter 4 and verse number four, it says, "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is he that is in you than he's in the world."

And that's the thing we need to remember is that God has already given us the victory. We may not know it yet, but God is the one who's given us victory. Have you been watching the basketball games with the Knicks and the Houston playing? You know, it's been kind of a uh Santa. But anyways, have you watched the games? Uh you know, uh the thing about the games though is this. Here in Hawaii, the games come on in the afternoon and a lot of people like to watch them in the evening when they get home from work. Unless you're a real backslider and watch it during work, but uh like to watch the games in the evening.

Well, I I I like watching games, but I'm not a big big fanatic like a lot of people are. So, I'll I'll see the score long before the games actually pay play on TV here in the evening. And uh what I love is be around people that are really big fans, like they're really big Knicks fans. They're really big, you know, and and I like to be around them and and and and I know what the score is and they don't. and and and especially if they're watching the game and and they miss a basket. Oh no, we're gonna lose and you know and and you know it's just fun to watch people when you already know who got the victory, when you already know that their team has won.

And folks, our team has won. We have God on our side and the victories of the Lord. And whatever circumstances you face, it's hard not to be fearful. I'm your pastor. I'm supposed to be the spiritual leader and I was afraid. It's hard not to be fearful. But we need to trust in God. And what we need to do is ask God to open our eyes to see. Go over to Second Kings 6. 2 Kings chapter 6 and look at verses 15-1 17. 2 Kings 6 15-1 17. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, a host can pass the city both with horses and chariots, and his servant said unto him, "Alas, my master, how shall we do?"

And he answered and said, "Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." And Elisha prayed and said, "Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see." And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. You see, we need to ask God, "Open my eyes, God. Help me to see that the power is with you, not with this world. And help me to see that no matter what the circumstances, no matter how overwhelming this situation is, greater is he that is with us than he that is with the world."

And and we need to remember that. And it's good to go back and remember the past victories of God. Go over to Psalms chapter 77. As I said, uh, Assault was Jehoshaphat's father and he went through a very similar situation. And I'm guessing that Jehoshaphat as he was facing this overwhelming force. I I believe that he remembered back my dad won. God gave my dad the victory. He remembered the victories of the past and that's what gave him courage to face the situation of today. in Psalms chapter 77 and uh verses 10-2. Psalms Psalms chapter 77 beginning with verse number 10. And I said, "This is my infirmity, but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most high.

I'll remember the works of the Lord. Surely I'll remember the wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work and talk of thy doings." You see, we need to remember what God has done and how God has given you the big victory. The same God that gave you the victory in the past is the same God is going to give you the victory today. You know, God has given us victory. God the old building where it was that was a miracle of God. They were asking $330,000 for that property. They were asking for $33,000 a month. And you know what way we got it? We got it the first two years were absolutely free.

Free. No rent at all. And and then from there the rent was uh very reasonable for here in Hawaii at least. And it was just amazing how God provided that property and and then this property here we moved in here again it was like uh the the numbers we got it for people were realtors were saying how did you get it for that price how did you guys ever get in there we we did not have the the resources the money but God provided and because of those victories in the past you can see and trust God to give you the victory today as well. You see 2 Chronicles chap 20 and verse number 7, the Bible says, "Art not thou our God who did drive out the inhabitants of the land this land before the people Israel and gave us to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever."

God, you gave us this land. You gave us this this place and we're going to trust you. In Hebrews 13:8, the Bible says Jesus Christ the same today, yesterday, the same yesterday, today, and forever. You see, we can trust God because it's the same God that gave them the victory in 2 Chronicles chapter 20 is the same God that's here with us today. We can trust him. Uh his father had that victory. By the way, let me ask you a question. Can your children see God's victories in your life? One of the things I want to challenge you as parents to do is turn your Bibles right away way to Psalms chapter 145.

But share with your children how God has given you victories in your life so that they can see the providence of God, the goodness of God and and when they grow up, when they become adults, they can remember what God has done in their family. In Psalms 145 and:es 3-5, it says, "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness is uh is unsearchable. One generation shall praise the works to another and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty and of thy wondrous works. Folks, I want to encourage you, by the way, when you go home tonight, sit your kids down and tell them what God has done.

Your children need to see the miracle of God. They need to see the victories of God. And and I believe that just Jehoshaphat was able to remember what God did for his father. And even in his own failure, sometimes you also learn to trust God. Jehoshaphat was the one that compromised with King Ahab. And uh and in 2 Chronicles chapter 18. And I believe even that was part of it. You know, Lord, I messed up with Ahab. I messed up in that situation. I don't want to mess up like that again. I I don't want to keep making the same mistakes over and over again. And I believe God uses our past to help shape us for the future and help us to have those victories.

You see in 2 Chronicles chapter 20 again, look at verse number 29. It says, "And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel." Folks, we ought not to be afraid of the world. The world ought to be afraid of us. And the truth is, is Honolulu, Hawaii afraid of the Ohana Baptist Church? Is the world and around us afraid of this church and what God is going to do? We need to be be a church that the the world's not afraid of, not in the wrong sense, but in the right sense to have that fear to believe that we're going to change this city for Christ.

You see, he had victory by remembering the past victories, but he also had victory through prayer. Look at 2 Chronicles 20 again. Look at verses 3-6. And Joseph had feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord, even out of all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord. And Joseph stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court and said, "Oh Lord our God, the God of our fathers, art not thou a God in heaven, and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen?

and in thy hand is there not power and and might so that none is able to withstand thee. You see, Jehoshaphat said, listen, we need to pray. We need to go to the Lord on this. By the way, let me say this. We get to praise God for what he's done. But you know what makes even better? When you prayed for it. You see, prayer is not just about getting God to do what you want to do. But when you pray, you get to rejoice in what God did in a different way because I prayed for that. I asked God for that. And and that's why prayer is so important because then we get to see God answer those prayers and we know we had a part in that because we pray for that.

But Joseph said we need to pray. Philippians chapter 4 6 and 7. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Back earlier this year when I met with the deacons, we decided, you know what? We're just going to we're just going to start praying and looking to what the God's going to do. We're going to start trusting God for what victory is going to be. Uh we could go around trying to manipulate everything and make it happen, but no, we need to see the Lord do it and we need to trust in God, but you got to get serious.

In verse three, it says they that Joseph appeared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. Get serious about prayer. Seek the Lord. Go over to Jeremiah chap 29, the book of Jeremiah chap 29 and look at verses 11 through13. Jeremiah chapter 29 and beginning with verse number 11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, sayeth the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall you call upon me. You shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you, and you shall seek me and find me when you shall search me all your heart.

See, Joseph said, I want God to do something. And he went and sought the Lord with all of his heart. He got serious. And folks, we need to get serious about what God God knows what he's going to do, but we need to get serious about seeking him in what he's going to do. In Mark 9 28 and 29, and when he's come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, why could we not cast him out? And he said unto them, "But this kind cometh not but forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting." We got to get serious with God. If you want to see God do something special, get serious with him. There are three Rs in prayer and we see them here in in 2 Chronicles chapter 20.

The first one in verse number six and said, 'Oh Lord our God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen and in thine hand is there not power and might so that none is able to withstand thee? The first thing you do when you pray is remember who God is. Jeremiah 2 and:32 says, "Can a man can a can a maid forget her ornaments or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number. We forget God. We forget about God in the equation. We forget about what God can do. In in Lukeap 11, the Lord's prayer and he said unto them, when thou pray, say our father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as in heaven.

And folks, we that's what God wants us to start with. When you pray, start remembering who God is. Remember the goodness and the greatness of God. And then in verse 7 of 2 Chronicles 20, it says, "Artu not thou go our God who just drive out the inhabitants of the land before thy people Israel and gave us to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever?" You see, he not only remembered who God was, but he rehearsed what God has done in Deuteronomy 7:18. If thou shalt say in thine heart, these nations are more than I, how can I dispose them? Thou shalt not be afraid of them, but shall well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh and unto all Egypt.

Is to remember what God has done in your life. He saved you. He's changed you. He's performed miracles. And remember those things. And then remind God of his promises. Look at verses 8 and N. and they dwelt therein, and have built there a sanctuary be therein for thy name, saying, if if when evil cometh upon us as a sword, judgment, or pestilence or famine, we stand before this house and in thy presence um for thy name is in this house, and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou will hear and help." He said, "Listen, God, you promised us something. You promised that you would be with us. You promised that you would never leave us nor forsake us.

In Deuteronomy 7 17 18 it says, "If thou shalt in thine heart these nation uh say in thine heart, these nations are more than I, how can I dispose them? Thou shalt not be afraid of them, but shall well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh and unto all Egypt to remember what God has done. God promised that he would be with them that they would if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face then will I hear from heaven. You see we need to turn from our wicked ways and seek God. And he promised you do that then he would hear and would bless. And that's the promise of God.

Remind God of his promises. All of God's promises are yes in 2 Chronicles 2 Corinthians 1:20. For all the promises of God in him are yay, and in him, amen unto the glory of God by us. You say, "Well, but God's told me no to some of my prayers." But you see, it's the promises of God that are always a yes. It's the promises of God. You know, the promises of the word of God are like a gift card. You know, you you ever gotten a gift card? I I've got one here for California Pizza Kitchen. Anybody like to have a gift card? Anybody want to volunteer for that? Oh, look at all these volunteers. Uh, let's see.

I'm going to give it to Zeke and Carla. They're newly married and they need they can't afford to eat. So, I'm going to let you take your wife out. All right. There you go. All right. And, uh, you know, but the thing about gift cards is this. I I've read online this that that over $ 160 billion dollar worth of gift cards are given out every year. $160 billion. And out of that, $3 billion go unclaimed. People forget they have it. They never get around to go on it. When they go there, they forgot the gift card and never gets claimed. It's good business for the businessmen. Here, they've given you a promise.

This gift card is a promise, but you've got to redeem it. And you know, there are over 3,000 promises in the Bible, and many of them have gone unclaimed. They're like gift cards that are never used. And we need to realize that God wants to fulfill his promises. In 2 Peter chapter 1:4, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption of the world through lust. Now God's promises also come with requirement. For example, Philippians 4 19, but my God shall supply all your need according to riches and glory by Christ Jesus.

That's a great promise. But if you read in the context of the passage, he said, "Philippians, you've given to me. You've given to the mission work. You give into our ministry over and over and over again. And because you give, God will supply your needs." See, claim the promises, but you have to complete the promise as well. Look at 2 Chronicles 7 and verse 14. 2 Chronicles 7 and verse 14. In a very familiar passage says, "If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin will hear their land."

That's a promise of God. But with that promise, you got to turn from your wicked ways. You got to seek the Lord. So, we need to claim the promises and believe in those promises. 1st Chronicles 20:20. Again, going back there, 1st Chronicles 20 and verse number 20, it says, "And they rose early in the morning, went forth in the wilderness of Takcoa. And as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, oh Judah, and inhabits Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God, so shall you be established. Believe his prophets, so shall you prosper." It's believing in the promises of God. Matthew 21 and 21.

Jesus answered and said unto them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you have faith and doubt not, you shall not only do this which is done to the victory, but also if you say in this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done." God says, "Listen, have faith." I started out this the announcement about my wife being pregnant, and you all laughed. Abraham, his God told him his wife would have a baby at 100 years old. and he laughed. But you know what I love is in the New Testament, God talks about how Abraham had such great faith. How he Abraham trusted God and believed him.

God gives us more credit than we deserve. It's not our faith that makes it happen. How strong is your faith? Is how big is your God? And it's really believing in the promises of God. Mark chapter 9 24 straightway the father and child cried out and said with tears Lord I believe help th out my unbelief is trusting in God. And then finally the victory through praise. Look at 2 Chronicles chapter 20 and look at verse 22. And when they began to sing and to praise and the Lord sent ambushments among the children of Ammon Moab and the mount Sarah which were come against uh Judah and they were smitten.

It wasn't their great muscles and their great army and their great victory in themselves. It was a victory in God. It's when they started praising God. Look at verse number 18. And Joseph bowed his head with his face to the ground and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord worshiping the Lord. We need to worship God. We need to praise God. Psalms 90 5 and verse 6 says, "Oh come, let us worship and bow down. Let's kneel before the Lord our maker." In James 4 and 10, it says, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up." Folks, I believe if you want God's blessings, you got to humble yourself.

And part of humbling ourselves is bowing before God to acknowledge him, his greatness, and our our sinfulness, our weakness. Worship is about is he worthhip. See, that's where the word comes from, worthhip. In Revelation 4 10-11, the four and 20 elders fell down before him that sat on the throne to worship him and lived forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For thou has created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." Worship is worth. God is worthy of our worship. In Job 2:10 it says, "But he said unto her, thou speakest as one of the foolish woman speaketh.

What shall receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this did not Job sin with his lips. At the time things were not going well. But Job said, "I'm not going to stop worshiping God." If you've been around very long, you know that I did a study a while back and found out the word worship in the Old Testament comes from a root word which means to lick the hand. It's like a dog licking your hand. I love dogs. I'm not a cat person. The reason I love dogs is because dogs worship you. Cats expect you to worship them. And when I had a dog bandit, when I would come home, he'd be waiting at the door for me.

His tail would be wagging. His tongue would be hanging out. He'd be jumping up and down. And as soon as he could, he just started licking my hand. And then he'd lick my face. And you know what? He acted like he act like I was the best thing that happened to his day. And when's the last time that you worshiped God and said, "God, you're the best thing that's happened to me." And to give him the worship that he deserves. And they took a stand in 2 Chronicles chapter 20. He said, "Listen, we just we're not going to fight this battle. We're just going to stand and worship and praise. You ever heard the phrase, don't stand there, do something.

Ezra Tap said this, "He who kneels before God can stand before any man." And when we bow down and worship and praise God, then we can stand for God and see the victory. And that's where they ended this whole passage as about praising God. First of all, we need to praise God for our salvation. Isaiah 12:es 1 and 2. And I and in that day thou shalt say, "Oh Lord, I will praise thee. Thou that was angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou that comforts me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song, and has become my salvation."

Do you have that victory already? 1 Corinthians 15 talks about, "Oh grave, where is thy victory? Oh death, where is thy sting?" You see, God has already given us the victory and salvation and that we know that we're going to heaven. We know that our sins are forgiven. We know that we have eternal life and we can praise him because we trust in him. In Ephesians chapter 1, it talks about when we trust in Christ, we we can praise him for his salvation. So, do you know him today? Can you praise God for your salvation? We need to praise the Lord in all that he does. Praise God for this situation. econd Chronic 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for thee.

For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, where rather glory in my infirmities, the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, and reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I'm weak, then am I strong." Whatever you're going through, whatever the circumstance, whatever the situation, start praising God. Not when the victory comes, but start praising him now and say, "God, thank you that you're going to give me the victory." Now, Paul, God didn't take away his illness, but God gave him his grace.

And that's what we want from the Lord. So, praise the Lord is what God wants from us. And so go to Psalms chapter 34 in closing. Psalms chapter 34. Psalms 34:es 1-4. Psalms 34 beginning with verse number one. It says, "I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from my all my fears. I I don't know what situation you're facing, what challenge, what circumstances, but I do know this. God is still God and God is still good. And the time to praise him is not just when the victory comes, but the time to praise him is before the victory comes. Because then you get to see what God does. It's not what I did. It's not what you did, but what God did. And you give him the praise and the glory for