Isaiah 38: Set Your House in Order - Christian Sermon by Pastor Jason Lockard

America is at a crossroads and God is telling us to set our house in order.

Our world is sick and dying due to evil and hatred.

Jesus is the only cure for our world's problems.

We must wake up and listen to God's message before it's too late.

Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Because right now, our world is at a crossroads! America is at a crossroads We are on the brink of something miraculous Or we are on the brink of something destructive And God is telling us as a nation One thing And one thing only And I believe that is what God has shown me And is telling me today to share with you Isaiah 38 and verse 1 says these words. I love this. In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. See, our world is sick and dying. We don't want to accept that. We don't want to accept that our world is sick and dying. But you can just look around this world. Look at America. It is being permeated by evil. We have riots. We have hatred. It is literally palatable. You can almost taste the hatred when you walk out the doors. People are hating each other. Over politics. Over political mess. Over social stuff. It is a palatable evil. We can just taste it. You can almost, you ever heard that term, the fog was so thick it was like pea soup? That's kind of how the hatred and the evil is in our world. You can literally almost reach out and touch it. It is so evil in our world. We are sick. Our nation is sick. All nations are sick. Hezekiah was sick unto death. our world is sick and there's only one cure and that cure is Jesus Jesus is the way the truth and the life he's the only one that's going to bring us out of this now we want to have politicians that sit there and say don't mention Jesus we want politicians that won't bring the word into our lives but we don't want that a world that turns their back on God is a world that is destined for destruction. Whether we want to believe it or whether we don't, that is the truth. That is the truth. Jesus is the way. It says, in those days, Hezekiah was sick unto death, and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos, came unto him and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord. See, God has sent many servants throughout the generations And I am so thankful that there are still good Bible-believing servants of God That are preaching the uncompromised truth But I want to tell you, in this day and age We, the ones that are preaching the uncompromised truth of God Are being outnumbered by the wolves in sheep's clothing those ones that are sitting here saying oh I love the Lord but I'm not going to preach this because it's going to offend you so I'm not going to do it we're being outnumbered the ones that are truly truly Bible believing people that are preaching from Genesis to Revelation everywhere whether it hurts or whether it doesn't we're going to preach it those ones are being eliminated they're being overtaken It's they're the minority Instead of the majority That's what's happening God sends his servants He sends his servants to Lazarus Or to Hezekiah here But I want to share with you something that's really interesting You remember the account of Lazarus And the rich man? Very interesting story The rich man Had everything a person could desire everything. He had everything that anybody could desire. And what was Lazarus? Lazarus was a beggar. He sat outside the gates of the rich man's house. Lazarus just wanted a crumb of bread. Just something. But the rich man had no compassion. But then something happened. which will happen to all mankind except Jesus come again and that is this both men died Lazarus passed away and died and the rich man died Lazarus not having anything had it all he had a heart that loved God and when Lazarus died he was taken up into the glories of heaven but the rich man all he was worried about was this world and this world is going to pass away and you're not going to take a thing with you oh you can build up all your bank accounts you can have all your houses you can have all your lands you can have all your cars you can have all your stuff but it ain't going to be the thing when the world's on fire it ain't going to be the thing when God says your time is lost it's not going to be the thing you can't buy your way into heaven it's already been paid the prince has already been paid cowardly's cross now all we got to do is accept it but the rich man was thinking somehow the wealth of the world was going to get him to go but it didn't work the rich man woke up and he was in hell until he lifted up his eyes and he looked into heaven and he saw Lazarus in the arms of Abraham he looked up and he said Abraham Father Abraham, please, please bring Lazarus. Send Lazarus to come down and dip his finger in the tip of some water and put it on the end of my tongue because I had torn at it in his flesh. Note the difference a place makes. That man that wouldn't even go near Lazarus because he was unclean now wants the unclean, dirty Lazarus to come down and help him. what a difference a destination can make. Then the rich man looks up and he sees the glories of heaven and he thinks about his family. And he says to Abraham, he says, Abraham, send Lazarus to go and tell my brothers that they don't want to come to this place. and you right now said something interesting and you said well you got the prophets they got the holy scriptures let them listen to that and what does the rich man say he said oh but they won't listen that's the key right here this world will not listen we are in a world that is completely to death to God holy world because they do not want to listen They don want to listen to it Oh we heard it too many times We sick and tired of hearing about Jesus We sick and tired of hearing about that God loves us We're sick and tired of hearing the God's holy word. We don't want to hear it anymore. The rich man says to our father Abraham, he says to Abraham, if someone would come back from the dead and warn them, What did Abraham say? He said, if they won't listen to the prophets, they won't listen if someone came back from the dead. And you know what? That's exactly true. Because look at the world in Jesus' time. Jesus died on a cross, laid in a grave, came out of the grave, and did the world fall on their knees before Him because He came back from the dead? No. No, they didn't. Jesus came back from the dead, and the majority of the world ignored it. And on Easter Sunday, when we celebrate the glorious resurrection of God, think about this world in which we live. What does the world do on Easter Sunday? They sit there and have Easter egg hunts. They talk about bunnies and they talk about candy and they talk about all that type of stuff. Instead of reasoning and telling the little ones what Easter is all about, it's not about a bunny dropping all candy to the little ones. It's about a Savior that dropped his life and dropped his cross so that we can be redeemed. But we don't want to talk about that. Let's not talk about that because it will offend. It will offend somebody. Our world is in wretched shape. And we've got to wake up. We've got to wake up. Isaiah the prophet to the son of Amos came unto him. And he said unto him, thus saith the Lord, set thy house in order. For you're going to die and not live. Amen. So what is God saying to our world right now? I believe right now God is saying those words Set your house in order I believe with all my heart I believe right now God is saying to America Set your house in order I believe all around this world On this third rock from the sun that is spinning He is saying to all nations around the world It is time to set your house in order. Because if we don't set our house in order, you know what's going to happen? Right there. We're going to die. Our nations are going to be destroyed. Our nations are going to be swallowed up by evil. We have a choice at this point. And that is to begin to set our house in order. Now, people will sit there and they'll say, but what can a little church do? What can a little church world do? Let me tell you something. A church that is completely given over to God can change the world. It can do it. It can happen. A little church, think about it. I'm getting excited now. Think about it. Think about it. Look at Pentecost. What happened at Pentecost? It was a little group of people gathered in an upper room. It wasn't a church. It wasn't a sanctuary. It wasn't a holy cathedral. It wasn't any, no, no, no, no, no. It was an upper room. It was just a place. But what made the difference? It was a group of people that believed in God and said, we are going to pray. And they began to pray, and they began to plead with God, and they got down to basics. And that is a lot of our problems in this generation. We, as a church world, won't get down to the basics and get back to where it died. We won't begin to pray and seek God's face and turn from our wicked ways. We want to continue to do what we're going to do because we've always done it. So if we always do what we've always done, we'll always get what we've always got. and it is time for us to go forward. God wants us to go forward. God wants us to see the blessings. But it is up to us. It is up to us as a church world to begin to pray and see God's face. See, this is what happens. He says, set your house in order. That little group of people in the upper room began to set their house in order. They began to pray. They began to see God's face. And what happened? The windows of heaven opened up. The fire of God fell. And the cloven tongues of God fell upon them. And they ran out into the world. And they began to speak in other languages. And the Spirit gave them utterance. And they began to save the world. The world began to hear and understand. And they accepted the blessing of God. What do we need to do? We need Pentecost 2.0. That's what we need. We need another Pentecost. Oh, but we can't have another Pentecost. It happened once. God won't bring another Pentecost. Why? Why? Why can't God do it again? Why can't God bring it again? Why can't God bless again? I know God can bless again. I believe it with all my heart that God can bless again. I believe with all my heart that God can fill His people again. I believe with all my heart that this is not the end. I believe that if we, as God's holy people, begin to see God's faith, that we're going to see the blessings. I believe it. If I didn't believe it, I wouldn't see it. But right now we are at a crossroads. is going to become whether we as the church do our part. Now let's look at what it says here. There's something I want to share with you today. And that is this. God is telling us right now that this is a turning point for not only America but the whole world. It's a turning point. We have two paths that are before us. We have a path to blessing or we have a path to destruction. a path of blessing or a path of destruction and I want to share with you something today that God shared to me and I was like wow this is America if ever there was America this is our Lord if ever there was this world three things God hates let me go a step further three things God abhors number one God in His Holy Word tells all the time that God hates child sacrifice. God hates it. All through the Bible, go through and read, you will find the Old Testament God's quote-unquote of this world that required the death of a child to be in heed, to be satisfied. They wanted, the God's quote-unquote of this world, wanted a child to be sacrificed. Number two God hates a man and a man and a woman and a woman That not popular It not popular in this generation But it true Go read it for yourself in the Old Testament It talks about it. It says that it is what? An abomination. Now what is it? I've said it many times. What does an abomination mean? It means that it makes God vomit. Well you know that God hates it, doesn't it? And then the third thing that God abhors or hates is when people do not bless His chosen. He said of His chosen, Israel. And He said, right now, He said the people that bless Israel will be blessed. Now let's go a step further here this morning. Let's look at America. Let's look at all the nations around the world. with the fact of social justice, with the fact of being politically correct, what we have done. Number one, we are turning our backs on Israel. The world is turning their backs on Israel. That's what they're doing. They want to join up with Iraq. They want to join up with other nations. Oh, we've got to take care of the other ones. Israel, we don't get now. Let's listen. We're turning our backs on Israel. The world is turning their backs on Israel, and the world is going to suffer. Number two, in this day and age, in which we live, what are we doing? Oh, we've got to let everybody be what they want to be. We've got to let everybody have their way. If a person is, if it's love, let it be love. Big thing that happened in social media a while back when this was a big thing was, love wins. Love wins. doesn't matter man to man love wins woman to woman love wins you know what happens when that kind of love wins first off God cries and second God haunts what's happening in this nation we have sat there and said oh we gotta let love win What is child sacrifice? Abortion. Oh no it's not! Oh no it's not! That's a woman's choice! I'm going to get in trouble today. Lord you're going to get me in trouble. No. abortion is big business. Abortion is big business. It's exactly what it is. It's money. And God, the quote unquote gods of this world is all about the money. That's what it is. We sit here and we sit oh well a woman should be able to do it. She wants mother of God. She should be able. Why don't a woman... Or you're going to get me in trouble today. Why doesn't a woman take care of herself? Why don't she sit there? There are ways to prevent it. Why don't they do that? If you're going to be doing those type of things, prevent it. Amen. You don't have to sit there and have a child. I didn't say, just rip it out of me and destroy it. That's child sacrifice. But why don't we do it? It's because, oh, stem cell research. What does that come down to? Big business. Murder. Murder. Exactly. That's exactly what it is. It's exactly what it is. But we sit here and say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Because, see, when we abortivate, we can use the stem cells, and we can do so much good. We can maybe cure cancer. Maybe we can cure Alzheimer's. Maybe we can chore different things. Because what's the difference? What's it? Well, probably a man who gave the whole world loses his own soul. And that's what's happening to the soul of America through abortion and through all these things. We are losing our very good soul. We are losing our very soul. And that is what is in the balances right now. That is what is in the balances. The soul of America is in the balance. and I fear for America for the simple reason if you remember the story in the Old Testament it says you've been weighed in the balances and what did it say? you were found wanting is God going to weigh America in the balances and say you know what? you're found wanting We are at a crossroads here in America We are at a crossroads all around this world All nations are at a crossroads God says set your house in order I love what happens to Hezekiah Hezekiah here had one of two choices He could give up, quit and die Or he could pray And that's what is happening right here to all our nations around the world right now, and especially here in America. We have one or two choices as the church world. We can give up and die and quit, or we can pray. That's our choice. We can give up and quit, or we can pray. And I love what Hezekiah does. Hezekiah in verse 2, I love this, it says in verse 3, it says, and Hezekiah, he says, Remember now, O Lord, I besieged thee how that I have walked before thee in truth with a perfect heart and I have done that which is good in thy sight and then what does it say has the kind of wept sore or wept bitterly the eyes are the window to the soul and the tears wash the windows so we can see the truth. You don't get nothing else today than that. The eyes are the windows to the soul, and the tears wash the windows so we can see the truth. What happens if you never wash the windows? Eventually you're not going to be able to see out the window, right? So we've got to do our car. See, we take Jasmine with us when we go out, right? and Jasmine likes to sit on my lap while we're out, and she presses her face against the window, and now the window gets there. She gets her wet nose all over the window, and it's got all kinds of marks all over her. So we've got to wash the windows all the time, right? That's the idea. We need to wash the windows. Cry for your country. Cry for your church. Cry for your family. When is the last time we really wept bitterly over our nation? When is the last time we literally wept bitterly over the fact that our churches are losing numbers by 50%? When is the last time we literally cried bitterly over the fact of what has happened in this nation? When's the last time we cried bitterly over and we prayed? the beautiful psalm says he washed my eyes with tears that I might see the glory of himself revealed to me Hezekiah prayed and he pled with God And he cried bitterly And then something amazing happens In verse 4 it says Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah Saying go and say To Hezekiah Thus saith the Lord I want you to understand something See Isaiah had just delivered The message and walked out the palace doors, where the throne room area, and started walking down the hallway and Hezekiah began to pray. And before even Isaiah even got out of the palace, God said, okay, hold on, go back. What was God saying? I changed my mind. People want to say, oh well, this is just part of God's plan. This will just play out. It's going to be. There's nothing that a Christian can do because God's plan is fixed. If God's plan is fixed, why did God change his mind? Right? You read it here for yourself just as much as I did. If God's plan is fixed, why did God change His mind? We talked about it last week, and it's true. God's plan is not a fixed plan. It's fluid. It can change. And I go back to that beautiful scripture verse. If my people which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, seek my face, turn from their wicked ways, Then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. That's what it says. Nineveh was going to be destroyed. They changed, and God changed his mind. But let's look at another country. Let's look at the two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah was filled with people. And people want to say, oh, well, it was all about homosexuality. That's not what it all was. That's not what the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was. It was that, yes. But there was so much more than that. Literally, Sodom and Gomorrah was just waving all the way around. They were just waving through and through. Every bit of their society was corrupt. I mean, you name the sin they gave. but God said, I'm going to send my angels, and the angels went to Lot's house, and they began to talk to Lot, and tell him what was happening, and now the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah had one of two choices, they could have said, let's listen to what these people have to say, but what did the men of Sodom and Gomorrah do, they came to Lot's house, and knocked on the door and said, come on, send them all out, so we can meet with them, God knew at that point there was no change in that people so what did God do he rained down destruction so that's what it comes down to if a church if a community if true believers begin to pray and try to to seek God's face and begin to cry out cry out in honesty crying out in bitter tears for their nation, God will hear from heaven first. Give them the sin and heal the land. That's what's going to happen. Hezekiah wept sore, and God changed his mind. He said, go and sing this to Hezekiah. Thus saith the Lord, the God of David, thy father, I have heard thy prayers, and I have seen thy tears. Behold, I will add unto thee 15 years. I say it again. When was the last time you earnestly cried bitter tears for your church and your community and your country? When's the last time you literally cried out for your church, community, and your country? It all comes down to this. This is a critical tipping point for our nation and the world as a whole. America has fallen far from God. Our world as a whole has fallen far from God. And many people will say Well we've fallen so far That we can't come back But I don't believe that Why? Do I not believe that it is not possible That I believe it's possible That America can come back That our world can be restored Why? Because God is still In the miracle working business He still wants to do a miracle But when it is up to us as a nation, up to the church, to begin to see God's face, begin to cry out, begin to pray, and to begin to honestly and earnestly pray for the nation, for the church, and for ourselves, that we will be a blessing. And then the church must stand up. The church has been quiet way too long. we've been silent way too long. We have kept our silence way too long. It is time for a church to be bold in the Lord and begin to speak. And when we begin to speak up, and we begin to pray up, and we begin to show up, and when we begin to cry out, God is going to show up and show off. And He's going to show this nation that they thought they had it under wraps, that they had it under their waist, God's going to say, no, I have final say. I have final say. But we've got to do our part. We've got to do our part. Thank you. Thank you. you

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