SERMON TITLE: NOT A SICKNESS UNTO DEATH: GOD WILL MAKE A WAY

SERMON TEXT: 2 Kings 20:1-11

SERMON THESIS: Prayer is the vehicle God sometimes uses to change our circumstances.

INTRODUCTION: Have you ever been in a situation in which you saw no way out? A time in your life when all avenues seemed to be closed, all roads were blocked, and there were no apparent routes of escape? This is the situation in which King Hezekiah, king of Judah, found himself. In fact, the prophet told him that he was terminal - he was going to die. As we saw in the message last Sunday morning, the king had been in difficult situations before and found a way out, but the current situation afforded him little wiggle room. It looked as though his death was imminent.

Perhaps you have been in a situation in which you saw no way out, or no means of escape. It could be that there is someone in this service today who finds themself in such a situation. It could be that you have a terminal illness, like Hezekiah, a financial situation, a relationship gone sour, some impending danger, or threat, the loss of a job, a temptation, or some other situation that only you and God know about. If you are not in some kind of situation herein described, and you think this message does not apply to you, take notice. The time may come when you too will be looking for a way out of some particular situation, and be calling upon your Heavenly Father to make a way.

The good news is, however, as seen in the life and situation of King Hezekiah, God will make a way when there seems to be no way. In fact...

I. MIRACLES CAN REVERSE A PROPHET'S PRONOUNCEMENTS.

"In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, µ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live'" (2 Kings 20:1).

1. Get ready to die - "Put your house in order" (v. 1). The doctor walks into the hospital room where the family is gathered around a bed-ridden loved one and says, "I have some bad news. The test results are in. The cancer is inoperable. There is nothing we can do. This is, basically, what the Prophet Isaiah said to good King Hezekiah. All hope of recovery seemed to be lost. In fact, he went so far to say, "Put your house in order." Nothing short of a miracle would reverse the prophet's pronouncement. Like Hezekiah, there may come a time in your life and mine when we need nothing short of a miracle.

It was on a Monday morning in Rapid City, South Dakota, that Carolyn came into the bedroom, after receiving a phone call from her doctor. She woke me up and said, with a trembling voice, "Benny, I have cancer!" There it is. The big "C" word, and it is spoken in connection with the one I love. "Could it be," I thought... "is Carolyn going to die?" Or would God make a way for us out of this situation? This was not the news that I wanted to hear on a Monday morning - my day off. Carolyn and I needed a miracle from our loving Father.

Needless to say, this was not the news that Hezekiah wanted to hear. Not only did the prophet say to him, "Put your house in order," he said...

2. You will not recover - "You will not recover" (v. 1). This pronouncement did not leave a way out for King Hezekiah. After our frightening phone call on that Monday morning, Carolyn later shared with me that the message she received in her prayer time was like that of Hezekiah. The message she heard was, "Put your house in order." Both she, and I, had convinced ourselves that she would not make it through surgery, but praise God, she did make it through surgery. That will soon be thirteen years ago. Know, also, Hezekiah was given fifteen additional years of life. What we learn is this - miracles can reverse a prophet's pronouncements. Doctors do not always have the final word concerning one's sickness. God can make a way when there seems to be no way.

Not only can a miracle reverse a prophet's pronouncement as seen in the life and situation of Hezekiah...

II. A PASSIONATE PRAYER PLEA CAN CHANGE OUR CIRCUMSTANCES.

"Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, ‘Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight' And Hezekiah wept bitterly" (2 Kings 20:2-3).

What did Hezekiah have going for him? A life of righteousness. He had done "What was right in the sight of God" (2 Kings 18:3). He had destroyed the idols in the land. He had followed God fully. He "trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel" (2 Kings 18:5). He had a good track record in his relationship with Jehovah God. All that was in his favor as he turned to the Lord in prayer. Now see...

1. Hezekiah response - "Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord..." (v. 2). After praying, the Bible says, "And Hezekiah wept bitterly" (2 Kings 20:3). Hezekiah responded and...

2. God remembered - "I will add fifteen years to your life" (v. 6). A passionate prayer plea on the part of Hezekiah had suddenly changed his circumstances. God had made a way when there seemed to be no way. Simply put - God remembered! Needless to say, there is biblical account after account in which we are reminded that God has remembered and made a way when there seemed to be no way. For example...

God remembered Joseph in that Egyptian prison...

God remembered the thief on the cross. "Jesus," the thief cried,"Remember me when you come in Your kingdom!" (Luke 23:42). Jesus made a way for him when there seemed to be no way. Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). God made a way for him when there seemed to be no way.

God made a way for His Son, Jesus. It is called the Resurrection! As a result of His death, burial, and resurrection, he has made a way for us to by-pass the grave and come straight into His presence. Paul said...

"We are of good courage, I say, and µprefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:8).

Finally, see how...

III. GOD PERSONALLY RESPONDS TO THE NEEDS AND FAITH OF HIS PEOPLE.

1. God reverses the prophet's announcement - "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of My people, ‘This is what the Lord the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayers and seen your tears; I will heal you" (v. 5). It was this very passage of Scripture that came to my mind there in my prayer closet adjacent to my study at Calvary Baptist Church in Rapid City, when I took my need to Him...

2. God responded to the plea of Hezekiah. He healed him and gave him fifteen additional years of life. He said, "I will add fifteen years to your life" (2 Kings 20:6).

3. God provides a remedy for full recovery - Here is the remedy...

"Then Isaiah said, "Take a cake of figs." And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD the third day?" Isaiah said, "This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?" So Hezekiah answered, "It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps." Isaiah the prophet cried to the LORD, and He brought the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz" (2 Kings 20:7-11).

God's way may not be the way we would have chosen, but he does make a way. For Hezekiah, his sickness turned out to not be a sickness unto death - God made a way! Trust Him. He will make a way for you.

CONCLUSION: The words of Don Moen's song, "God Will Make a Way," seems to be appropriate here:

God will make a way

When there seems to be no way

He works in ways we cannot see

He will make a way for me

He will be my guide

Hold me close to his side

With love and strength for each new day

He will make a way

For you, lost sinner, God has made a way for you through the Savior. Will you turn from sin and self, and turn to the Savior. The way for you is the way of the Cross. The choice is yours!!