Nothing to say, yet
Transcription
The speaker begins by expressing gratitude and praising God. They then introduce the topic of their message, which is about how God can forgive and transform even the worst sinners. They reference the story of King Manasseh, who did great evil but ultimately repented and received God's forgiveness. The speaker emphasizes that repentance and receiving Jesus' sacrifice on the cross is what allows us to be forgiven and have eternal life. They also mention that although there is forgiveness, there are still consequences for our actions. The speaker encourages listeners to share the message of forgiveness with others, especially the next generation. They conclude by mentioning King Manasseh's grandson, Josiah, who became king at a young age and did what was right in the eyes of God. Good morning, everyone. Hallelujah. It is a great day. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. It is 10 a.m., October 16, 2023, and we have a lot of ground to cover today. The Lord is so good. The Lord is faithful, and the Lord is worthy of our praise. This morning, I am going to be reading from the book of 2 Chronicles, but I will be going also to the book of 2 Kings, and we are going to get into the message because God has a word for us. And the word that God has for us in this day is it does not matter your past. It does not matter the things you've done. It does not matter what the enemy has done to try and keep you away from this moment of salvation. God can take the worst of the worst and turn it into the best of the best because that is who our God is. We are going to get into the prime example of someone who did evil in the sight of God, but in the end, we are going to see what true repentance looks like. So let us come to the book of 2 Chronicles, chapter 33, and we are going to begin with verse 1, and the word of God says this, Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem, but he did evil in the sight of the Lord according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. For he built the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down. He raised up altars for the Baal and made wooden images, and he worshipped all the hosts of heaven and served them. He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, In Jerusalem my name shall be forever. And he built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the valley of the sons of Hinnom. He practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spirits. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. Hallelujah. We are going to go now to verse 10. It says, And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. Therefore the Lord brought about them the captain of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before him, humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to him, and he received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. Hallelujah. Lord, Father God, in this very moment, I pray that you open our spiritual ears to hear your word and your message. I pray that you would open our spiritual eyes, Lord, to see in the supernatural. I pray that you open our hearts to understand what it is you are saying to your people in this day. I pray, Father God, that those who come, hallelujah, to hear your message, you will illuminate their understanding so that they can come to the knowledge of the cross and fully understand that repentance is turning away from their sins and being forgiven by God through the blood of Jesus enables us to know and understand that it's not about what we have done. It's about what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross, and he's not looking at you and saying, you have no forgiveness. He's not looking at you and saying, you've gone too far in for me to forgive you. It's contrary to that. He is extending his mercy toward us today. He is saying, it doesn't matter what you've done, what you've gone through, what you've said, and how you have acted. It's about you coming to the cross and receiving what I have done for you, and that was pouring out my precious blood on the cross so that you would be redeemed in this day, and from here on out, you would have eternal life. So, Father God, right now, I pray, Lord, that you quiet our souls and our hearts and our minds to receive your word, and every distraction, I declare it to leave in the mighty name of Jesus. Whatever deception and lie the enemy tries to bring right now, Father God, I pray that you cancel it out in your mighty name, Jesus. I pray in Jesus' name, amen and amen. So, as I was reading this chapter, I am always amazed at how God's love truly reaches the worst of the worst, and we see the transformation that takes place, and this transformation took place in the King Manasseh when he did evil before the sight of God. And because he did so much evil in the sight of God, God had to catch Manasseh's attention, and that was bringing Manasseh to a place of solitude, taking him out of where he was, allowing the Assyrians to come in and invade his territory, allowing the enemy to wreak havoc on top of him, because Manasseh wasn't only causing the children of God to sin, he was also causing his sons to pass through the fire. He was also bringing in stuff that was outside into the temple. Come on now, somebody. I know somebody's hearing right now. He was bringing in idols from out there and bringing them into the temple and making it seem like this was normal when God clearly says, Thou shalt not worship any other God but the God of heaven and earth, the one true living God. And so Manasseh was doing all of these things, and on top of that, he was seeking mediums, soothsayers, doing witchcraft and sorcery, calling upon those things that God specifically told his people not to do and not to go and seek out. But Manasseh was driving God's people to do so much evil that God had to get Manasseh's attention. And the reason why God allowed this to happen was because he already knew that although Manasseh was the worst of the worst, God was about to, hallelujah, forgive Manasseh because Manasseh was about to have a profound encounter and he was going to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lord was, is, and will always be God Almighty. And so when they drove Manasseh to Babylon, the Bible says that he was in affliction, and when he was in affliction, he called and cried out to the Lord, and he humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. The Bible says that he implored the Lord, not the God, his God, hallelujah, and he prayed to him, and he received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh, he knew that the Lord was God. You see, it's not about how much we do that enables us to come to the cross. It's about what Jesus has come that enables us to stand in front of God and to say, I have messed up. I need you. I'm a sinner. I have done evil. I have done so much. I have made a mess of my life, and I am calling and crying out to you right now, and God, in his mercy, he will extend that grace and that mercy towards you and that forgiveness towards you, because Jesus died for all. Jesus didn't die for one kind. Jesus didn't die for one culture. Jesus didn't die for one nation. He died for every single person on this planet, so that no matter what you have done, no matter what you've gone through, God is extending that same mercy to you today. You could be a warlock. You could be a witch. You could be somebody who has gone so deep down, and you feel like there's no forgiveness, but only Jesus can break those chains. Only Jesus can break those bondages. Only Jesus can come in with his blood and cleanse us and purify us and sanctify us and cause us to become a new creature in Christ Jesus. And although there is forgiveness, we will not escape the consequences of our actions, and the reason why I say this is because although Manasseh asked the Lord for forgiveness and humbled himself and God brought him back to Jerusalem, he still, because of his actions down the line, God's people had to go into captivity, but that God, after the captivity, was going to cause Babylon to see the judgment of God. After God's people came back from captivity, God brought out judgment on the Babylonians. You see, God forgives us, but we cannot escape the consequences of our actions, but God will see us through. God will see us to the other side, but we have to understand something, that our God is merciful. Our God is graceful. Our God is so abundant in mercy. He is slow to anger and abundant in mercy, that when we come to the cross, he forgives us and he allows us, through the blood of Jesus, to come into the Holy of Holies, so that we would cry out to him when we are going through another trial, when we are going through another storm. See, the people of God, they did not realize that through the sins of Manasseh, and this is scriptural, and I'm going to show it to you, that because of the sins of Manasseh, they had to go into captivity. The generations after them had to go into captivity. Why? Because when we do something against the will of God, we have forgiveness, but we will have to face the consequences of our actions. You and I have been forgiven, but we need to speak to the next generation of who God is. Some people will not heed to the voice of God, even when you have been forgiven, and you want to share that forgiveness with other people, and let them know that Jesus forgives. Because as Manasseh had passed away, he had another son named Ammon, who came in to reign, but he did evil in the sight of God. So, the Bible says that servants came in, and the servants conspired against him, and they killed him. And Manasseh, his grandson, whose name was Josiah, came into reign at an early age. Josiah was only eight years old when he came into reign, because his son did evil, and his servants conspired against him. He died also, so his son Josiah stepped into reign, which is Manasseh's grandson. And at eight years old, this boy did what was good in the sight of God, restored everything back, knocked down all the idols, and he became a powerhouse for God. And so, Manasseh, unfortunately, his beginning was not great, but his ending was great, because God forgave him as he asked God to forgive him. So, it's not about our beginning, it's about our end. And so, because Manasseh caused the children of God to sin, this is why God's people down the line had to go into captivity. And the Word of God says here, in 2 Kings 21, verse 16, Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, so he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another besides his sin, by which he made Judah sin in doing evil in the sight of the Lord. So, because of that, the generations to come, they would continue to do evil, but Manasseh, he had repented. You need to worry about your salvation. It's salvation God is giving you. You need to guard it with trembling and fear, because we need to understand something. That even though we may have started out bad, but God, through His mercy, sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross, to give us life, and when we are forgiven, that gives us the opportunity to speak to the next generation. And so, God will raise up a remnant. Why? All because you and I chose to repent of our sins, because our beginning was awful, but our end is the greatest story ever told by God Himself on what Jesus has done for us, and where we came from, to where we are now, to where God is going to bring us. And that is to His heavenly kingdom one day, if we continue walking according to the will of God, and we preach with all boldness, repentance, forgiveness of what Christ has done for us on the cross, and how He can set us free, no matter how bad your life has been, no matter what you have done. When you cry out to the Lord in your secret place, if your heart is crying out to God right now, He is forgiving you. You need to walk knowing that you have been forgiven. Hallelujah. Because God, He is merciful and abundant in grace. Hallelujah. Oh, I pray this has blessed you, and I pray that you continue to seek the Lord. There is no greater name like the name of Jesus Christ, who has the power to redeem, restore, transform, and make all things new. Yes, it is you God is calling. Don't fault yourself for the things that you've done, because when we don't have Christ, we are led astray. And when we are led astray, the enemy comes in to deceive us, to bring lies and deception. But when we come to the cross, that is where the veil is taken off, and that is where we can see clearly that Jesus Christ poured out His blood. I cannot end this podcast without inviting you to become a part of the family of God. It is a simple prayer, and it goes like this. Jesus, I come to you, and I recognize and realize that I have sinned against you, oh God. And I need you to come into my heart, become Lord and Savior of my life, because I believe over 2,000 years ago, you died for me on the cross. You died to give me life, and I believe with all of my heart that I have been saved and redeemed by your blood. And I am a child of God, and from here on out, I will walk as a child of God, because you have written my name in the Lamb's book of life. Thank you for eternal life. I turn away from my sins, and I seek you, and I follow you from here on out. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. If you said that prayer right now, welcome to the family of God. We are happy and celebrating with the angels in heaven. Yes, because when there is a prodigal son or daughter who comes running back home into the arms of God, there is a celebration in heaven. When one repents for the first time and comes to the knowledge of the cross, there is a celebration in heaven, and when they're celebrating, we are celebrating here on earth, because a soul for Jesus is a victory all in itself. I pray this has blessed you. Until the next time, bye-bye for today. For more information visit www.fema.org
