Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative, chaplain of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and author of over 100 books, booklets & Bible studies. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 1,300 US outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.
you see many of us the problem of us
getting along with other people is our
inability to get along with ourselves
everything visible and physical is
preceded by something invisible and
spirit the consequences we are dealing
with in our lives in our homes in our
culture we are dealing with them because
there is a gap between where God is and
where we are he wants to know that you
want him and not just wanted stuff see a
lot of folk go to church to gets God
stuff but who don’t want the God who
gives it so if you’re in distress
don’t let that drive you away draw you
near when you get close and want to live
for him want to please him want to honor
him want to exalt him want to draw near
to him then heaven opens up and he lets
you find
[Music]
God tells Hezekiah in second Kings 20
it’s time to say goodbye through the
prophet Isaiah he comes and he says God
told me to tell you set your house in
order or get your affairs settled make
sure your will is intact make sure your
family understands that it’s terminal
there will be no coming back from this
illness you’re going to die nothing is
more painful than to run into a terminal
situation a situation that offers no
solution now here it was a physical
illness but terminal situations can show
up in all kinds of shapes and sizes
maybe there’s a terminal relationship
maybe there’s a terminal hope all hope
is gone maybe it’s the economics are
terminal you don’t see any way out and
it throws you to tears to discouragement
and to hopelessness nobody you know no
place you can go and nothing that you
can do can fix it it is in this context
that we read that Hezekiah turned his
face to the wall and prayed to the Lord
he was looking at Isaiah but now when he
heard the news from the Prophet he
turned his face to the wall and the
Bible says he wept bitterly he wept and
cried like a baby
to hear the bad news that there is no
solution and that really is no solution
if God said you’re gonna die that this
came from God God said it’s over God
said it’s get your affairs in order what
am I going to do if God says it well the
only thing you can do is go to the God
who said it it says he turned his face
to the wall and he went to God you
decreed that it was over so today I’m
talking to folk who think it’s over
whatever over means for you and if
you’re not in an over situation keep
living you go hit an over situation a
situation where it appears to be
terminal hopeless no solution and God is
right in the mix we’re told Hezekiah
prayed and when Hezekiah prayed in
verses 3 and 4 mainly verse 3 he says I
walked before you I was truthful I gave
you my whole heart and I did what was
good you know when he gave God a credit
report
he says God don’t you remember that I
hung in there another phone quit on you
then I followed you and other folk ran
away from you that I stuck to the truth
and didn’t buy a lie don’t you remember
look at my credit report now when he
asked God to remember God does not have
a memory issue in chapter 32 verses of
second chronicles verses 4 24 to 26 we
told that he had some issues issue a
pride and that pride got him sick and
God says you this is it but even though
he had a flaw in his credit report when
you looked over the whole of his walk
there were spiritual consistency without
being perfect let me ask you a question
if you were in a terminal situation and
you show God your spiritual credit
report
how would it read you tell me you will
spend time with me you tell me you’re
gonna get to know me you tell me you’re
gonna feast on my word you tell me
you’re gonna be faithful and you’re
giving you tell me you’re gonna give
some of your time for service but I’m
ticked a click click click check in your
report and I don’t see consistency here
I know you’re not perfect but I don’t
even see consistency on that day when
you’re going to be in a terminal
situation what’s your credit report look
like he gives him a credit report and he
says I have followed you I have hung out
with you I have stuck with your truth he
turns to pray why because God will put
us in situations where he is our only
way out
well there’s no person you can talk to
no deal you can cut
[Music]
I studied the Bible in college for four
years exclude the Bible’s before you is
better than the master’s degree another
four years we’re getting a doctoral
degree and then I’ve been preaching all
of these years and I’m still learning
new things from this awesome
inexhaustibility world of games that’s
why I’m so excited about the twenty
heaven Study Bible and its accompanying
works the Tony Evans Bible Commentary it
will take all of this training and this
teaching and make it available to you to
understand utilize and apply God’s most
powerful
[Music]
it says he wept bitterly but he matched
his weeping with his credit report a lot
of times we go God to God with our tears
without a good report and we wonder why
he’s not responding no he he had a great
credit report but he was in a terminal
situation so he prays and he cries out
to God one day if it has not come yet
you’re going to be I’m going to be we’re
going to be in a terminal situation in
other words a situation we can’t fix and
nobody else can help us and the only out
is God you cannot decide on that day to
change your credit report you have to
have built that up along the way cuz
you’re gonna need to cash it in on that
day Hezekiah cries out to God and says
this is my report and he’s crying for
mercy God didn’t tell us
Isaiah was gone out into the middle of
the court the word of the Lord came him
saying verse 5 returned and said
Hezekiah the leader of my people thus
saith the Lord God your father I have
heard your prayer and I’ve seen your
tears no you didn’t I have heard your
prayers and I have seen your tears so
the first thing is he prayed he gave
something he gave God something to hear
and it included his credit report since
I’ve heard your prayer but I’ve also
seen your tears I’ve heard what you said
prayer but I’ve also seen how you feel
I’ve heard your words but I’ve also read
your heart
I’ve heard your speech but I’ve also
felt the depth of your pain let me say
something about God he’s emotional now
we don’t talk a lot about the emotions
of God but we see it all in Scripture we
see where God gets angry the Bible says
the joy of the Lord so he can get joyful
the Bible talks about God being pleased
or being pleasured loving the feeling
that there are all kinds of statements
about God’s feelings you don’t just want
to reach God’s ears you want to touch
God’s heart because he’s a feeling kind
of God and he says I’ve heard your words
but I’ve also felt your pain what the
Bible says about Jesus is he came to
sympathize with our hurts that’s a
that’s a feeling thing that’s why when
we want to just throw stuff up to God
without trying to connect with God we
want him to hear our words would not
feel our hearts you know how it is with
people when they talking to us about
they feeling us then that we we not we
not connecting on this point and they
can repeat back what you said but they
don’t feel why you said it we have that
in human reactions and dynamics all the
time God does not want to hear you he
wants to feel you and nothing enhances a
relationship like when what is said is
also what is felt because when the words
touch the heart you got a thing going on
in he said I’ve heard your words and
I’ve seen your tears I I feel you what
happened he says I will heal you
on the third day you’re going to go up
to the house of the Lord
meaning you will get your praise on you
crying the day but I’m gonna give you a
reason to shout three days from now I’m
gonna heal you wait a minute it’s just a
couple of verses ago and today you gonna
die but it wasn’t just a couple of
verses ago and by the time Isaiah got
halfway out in the courtyard
God watch this now changed his mind oh
did you hear that God changed his mind
now this puts us in a theological
conundrum we talked about this a little
bit last week but let me just go a
little further today the Bible declares
that God does not change God says I am
the Lord that change it not Jesus is the
same yesterday today and forever God
cannot change he says that over and over
and over again in Scripture but we just
saw God change he said you will die as I
said the Lord couple of minutes later
you will not die thus saith the Lord so
we went from a terminal situation to a
15-year reprieve and I was only in the
center of a couple of minutes cuz I then
just walked through the middle of the
courtyard and the only thing that
happened between what God said the first
time and what God said the second time
was a prayer full of emotion that’s only
been this happened how can I change this
God his immutability change god’s
characteristics mercy grace truth love
holiness righteousness of militants
omnipresence submissions ferocity God
has character qualities those character
qualities
are unchangeable he will always be what
he has always been you and I go through
changes we’re not the same today as we
used to be we don’t look the same we
don’t act the same
we don’t smell the same there are
changes that occur in our life over time
God cannot change his essential nature
but he changed while God cannot change
his nature he can and does change his
action he said it again God’s nature
cannot change but his actions may change
how then does God change this action
without changing its nature since his
nature cannot change but his action as
in this case does change so God changes
his mind and he says you are going to
live you are not going to die he
leveraged influence with God so then
please notice something else I’m going
to deliver you verse 6 I’m gonna give
you 15 years and when I give you 15
years and deliver you I will deliver
this city
from the hand of the king of Assyria and
defend the city for my own sake and for
the sake of my servant David okay watch
this
when you in a terminal situation and God
changes his mind and reverses something
and gives you a new lease on life
whatever that terminal scenario is it’s
not just for you
she is not just for you he says when I
give it as 15 years it’s not just so you
can go on party I’m giving you in this
15 years because I want to use you to
deliver my people from the attack of the
Assyrians in other words I’m the only
reason I’m turning this around round
it’s not only to give you life because I
know that’s what you’re praying for but
I also want to give you purpose and I
want to give you a new opportunity to do
something for me
see most of the time when we’re in a
terminal situation it’s only about me
myself and I and I want God to do
something for me that is in my best
interest and that’s okay but it can’t be
limited to you when God gives you a new
opportunity he wants you to be a
blessing not just be blessed and that’s
the problem with a lot of this blessing
stuff out here today I want to be
blessed I want to be rich I wanted to
have this I want to have that which in
itself is not a problem unless it’s by
itself unless it only involves you see
the prayer you need to pray is God I’m
in a terminal situation I need to affect
another part of your character I need
you to reverse the situation so that not
only can my situation be changed but so
that I can be a conduit to change
somebody else so if it’s only about you
then you missing God says I got a bigger
plan for you than just you live in 15
years I want to deliver and I want to
deliver the whole city from the
Assyrians so then he tells Isaiah take a
cake of figs and he took them and laid
it on the boil and he recovered okay so
he’s dying from an infection he’s got a
boil that’s going to kill him which
means he has an infection running
through his body God tells the Prophet
go get a fig cake put the fig cake on
the boil to suck out the infection so
that he can live so God gives Isaiah not
the doctor
a medical solution the Hezekiah is the
king so he can get any doctor he wants
but because this was a spiritual issue
and not merely a medical issue God comes
up with a whole nother plan to heal him
apart from the plan
that the professionals would use because
if the professionals could have used it
he wouldn’t be terminally ill in the
first place God is not against medicine
in fact all the medicine you use is
birthed from something God has already
made so so any doctors using any
medicine has got to depend on something
God has already made to produce the
medicine that we take for our illnesses
it’s nothing wrong with using medicine
it’s everything wrong with using
medicine without God see it started with
God he got right with God God said I’m
gonna hear you then the medicine worked
so he hears a word from God
Isaiah does to help a sick King he puts
the fig cake on him it sucks out the
infection and now he’s healed but all
Hezekiah has a question he says this he
says what shall be the sign verse 8 that
the Lord will heal me okay now he was
just told the Lord go healing okay but
every now and again you need to see
something
I heard what you said prophet Isaiah I
heard what you said preacher and I like
kind of believed it but part of me is
from Missouri you got to show me
something signs in the Bible were
designed to confirm the Word of God God
is not against confirming signs he is a
gang signs that are not synched with his
word so his word can be confirmed by a
visual so Isaiah says and landscape
versus he says God told me tell you this
will be the sign and you get to choose
do you want the Sun to move forward 10
steps or do you want the Sun to go back
10 steps
translation this is the first daylight
saving times in history do you one of
them spring forward or fall back God
offers him a daylight saving time he
says I’ll speed up the time or I’ll slow
down the time you choose Hezekiah says
well speeding up the time I’m not sure
I’m gonna buy that cuz that one looks
too easy that’s what he says he says let
me take the harder one let’s see you
back up the time now they didn’t have
watches and clocks what we do they had
more Sun dials and a half step was a
sundial
so as the afternoon went on the Sun
would roll up down the steps and it
would expand as the Sun got brighter so
when he asked for the Sun to go back
he’s asking for a regression of time
he’s asking for the Sun to do opposite
to what the Sun does he says cuz that’s
the harder thing now here’s the question
why did God give him that sign oh I mean
he could have said I’ll just show you a
sign or he could have give but he used
the Sun for the sign
well you remember now that the issue is
Assyria is going to attack the name of
the Assyrian God is a sewer a s su ara
that’s the Assyrian God and he’s the god
of the Sun so he gives him a sign tied
to the ministry that he wants him to
perform once he’s healed and I work it’s
not just any old sign it’s a relevant
side cuz I must show you and the sign I
give you about your healing that the job
I’m getting ready to give you to take
care of the Assyrians I can handle their
God and if I can handle their God
because their God is supposed to be the
God of the Sun and i’ma tell their God
what’s gonna happen with the Sun and
their God’s not gonna stop me from doing
with my son when I want done so so their
God is gonna know that when I come up
and I show up there God’s not gonna be
able to help them against you when you
were healed doing my will because i’ma
beat their God so all this was tied to
his side and the Bible says has the
concent let it roll back and it rolled
back ten steps time went backwards God
has you for greater Kingdom purpose and
he wants to use you even if he allows a
terminal situation a situation that
looks hopeless
so I want to challenge you as we wind
down here’s my challenge change your
credit report
change your credit report coz when that
time comes you want to be able to say to
God God look at my credit report I
haven’t been perfect I have failed but
lord I have picked up and I have decided
to surrender to you to pursue a
relationship with you
to love the Lord my God with all my
heart my mind my Microsoft to serve you
and to serve others god I am yours I am
yours and the good thing about a credit
report is that they will allow you to
let it change they’ll allow bad credit
to become medium credit to become
awesome credit so no matter how bad your
credit report used to be change your
credit so that when terminal day comes
you can offer God something he can
respond to
[Music]
God has flexibility in his sovereign
will
he has such fluidity that will allow him
to change his mind without compromising
his sovereignty now that’s a trick that
we can’t pull off too well but he can
God has sovereign boundaries but within
those boundaries he allows things to
ship not in his character but in his
action or in his reaction and one of the
things he responds to in changing his
mind is prayer when we pray like when
Moses prayed and God repented about his
previously determined action don’t you
need God to change his mind about some
things in your life I know I want him to
change his mind about some things in
time so I’m gonna pray and I want you to
pray God change your mind about the
negative actions that we deserve and
have earned and turn them around for our
good in your glory
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
you
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