Key to Revival: Self-Examination

2 Chronicles 7:13-14
P. G. Mathew | Sunday, December 27, 2020
Copyright © 2020, P. G. Mathew
Language [Japanese]

When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among y people, if my people, who are called by my name, will 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 and will heal their land. (2 Chron. 7:13–14)

This is the last Sunday of 2020. May God help us to examine ourselves. The key to revival is examining, not others but ourselves, to find what sin is in us and get rid of it.

Second Chronicles 7:13 begins, “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain.” Why is it that God shuts up the heavens? He does so because there is sin against him. So he shuts up the heavens and there is no rain. That means there is no bread. And locusts devour everything else. Not only that, but diseases like the coronavirus have also come, and thousands of people have died.

It is all divine plan, especially for the church to examine themselves and grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ in 2021. God will enable us to make our examinations, and God will tell us what is wrong. We are to live in obedience to the word of God. And when we are not living obediently, he will shut up the heavens, locusts will abound, and the coronavirus will thrive. May God help us, then, to examine ourselves and see what he is saying to us through these things.

I. “If,” “Then”

Verse 14 begins, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then.” Until then, nothing will happen.

So that is God’s condition: “If you obey, I will bless you. If you do not obey, I will curse you.” Both work. In 1 Corinthians 11:30 Paul tells us, “For this reason, many of you are weak and sick and a number died.”

God is in the business of blessing and cursing people. He will not tolerate anyone spitting on his face. Yet Solomon did spit on the face of God who appeared to him two times. This text is a portion of what God spoke to Solomon. He refused to obey. I will tell you what he did.

In 2 Chronicles 7:19–20 the Lord told Solomon, “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.” Solomon did turn away.

In 1 Corinthians 11:28, 31, Paul begins, “A man ought to examine himself.” We are each responsible for examining ourselves. So a wife must examine her life, her husband should examine his life, and children should examine their lives. That is a choice we have. And if we do not, God himself will. So we read, “A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. . . . But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment [of God].” We read in verse 30, “For this reason, many are weak and sick, and a number died.” What a choice! Thank God for giving us the choice to examine ourselves and reform by the help of the Holy Spirit.

II. “My People”

God says, “If my people. . .” We are God’s covenant people. What is the essence of the covenant? “I am your God who saves you, and you are my people who obey me.”

Do you obey God, proving that you are one of God’s people? We are to read the word of God that we may obey it. For example, we read in Ephesians chapters 5 and 6, “Wives, be submissive to your own husbands, as to the Lord,” “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church,” and,  “Children, obey your parents.”

God made a covenant before creation that he would save some people, a few people.   In Ephesians 1:4 we read, “For he chose us in [Christ] before the creation of the world.” What is the purpose? That we may be “holy and blameless in his sight.” God wants us to hear his words and do them, meaning obey them.

God is saying, “I am your God, who chose you to save you. You are my people who are to obey me.” Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). So God is saying, “You are my people who love me and obey me.” When we read Romans 8:29–30, we see that we are foreloved by God before creation, in eternity. Only a few people are so foreloved. God did not have to elect anyone. But he chose us before creation, before the Fall, to be holy and blameless in his sight. So we are foreloved and predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Our destiny is to be like his own Son. We have been called and justified that we may be glorified.

III. “Called by My Name”

Verse 14 also says we are called by God’s name. This is God’s effectual call. There is a general call. But if you are elect, when God calls, you will come to him because that call is effectual. And we came to him. We are here because we are elect. We did not come on our own. We were regenerated.

“Called by my name.” Name means authority. So this is speaking about God’s effectual call, not his general call. Only the elect will come to him. The non-elect refuse to come, and, eventually, they will be sent to eternal hell because they are sinners. In Adam, we all are sinners.

The Hebrews writer says about Jesus Christ, “Although he was [eternal Son], he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Heb. 5:8–9). Ask yourself: Do you obey the word of God, or do you read it just for intellectual stimulation, so you can claim, “I read the Bible”?

Jesus said, “If you obey my commands.” God never begs. We are nothing. We are creatures. Therefore, God commands us. So Jesus said, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love” (John 15:10). And being effectually called means he regenerates us. Why is that necessary? Because by nature we are twice dead in our trespasses and sins; we can only sin and trespass against him.

God’s effectual call results in regeneration, first, and repentance and saving faith. Romans 1:5 speaks of “the obedience of faith.” This is special call, not general call, to the elect, and they will come.

IV. “Humble Themselves”

Then we are told that we must humble ourselves. In Luke 18 we read about a Pharisee who said he did not need Jesus because he was already righteous in himself. That is arrogance. Like all people, this Pharisee was conceived in sin, born as a sinner, and practiced sin every day. But the publican said, “Have mercy upon me, a sinner!” And the Bible says that he went home justified. The Pharisee went home condemned.

Pride is the sin of the devil, the dragon. Fourteen times the word “dragon” appears in the book of Revelation. He is against you and against me.

God will not hear the prayer of proud people. In Matthew 25:41 we read what the King says to proud people who will not hear and obey God’s commands: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” The word “prepared” is a divine passive, meaning God himself prepared it. This “eternal fire” is also called eternal hell.

The rich man of Luke 16 despised poor Lazarus, who was lying at his gate, looking for food. We are not told that anyone even gave him food. The rich man died and found himself in spirit in hell, in fire, in torment, in agony. Lazarus also died, and went to Abraham’s side, to heaven. That is why I read and obey the Bible. I want to go to where Lazarus went, to home with God, to heaven. I am not taken up with money and the things of the world. Paul says, “If you have food and clothing, be content with that” (1 Tim. 6:8). He also said, “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6).

God exalts the humble: “‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:6-7). Therefore, confess your sins, forsake your sins, and receive forgiveness. And thank God, he forgives our sins. Christ died for our sins.

This is the last Sunday of this year. We must examine ourselves, that we may do better, that we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Without holiness no one can see the Lord.” If that is the case, we want to be holy.

V. Pray for Your Need

We must pray for our needs. What is our need? God says, “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague. . .” Why is God doing this? Because of sin among God’s people. With all the money, we want to sin and experience the pleasure of sin.

Pray for your need. Come to God and say, “God, I repent of my sins.” God sends famine, locusts, and plagues. Paul told the Corinthians, “For this reason, many of you are weak and sick, and a number have died.” It means God did it. For what reason? They did not love their brothers in Christ.

VI. Keep on Seeking God, Doing His Will

Not only must we pray, but we must keep on seeking God and doing his will. In Matthew 15 we read that a Syro-Phoenician woman cried out, “Help me, Jesus.” And he said, “I am not sent to the dogs to help them.” And she said, “I am a dog, but I am your dog. I am a dog, and dogs must live by crumbs that fall from the master’s table.” And God said, “Great is your faith.”

In Luke 18, we are told that a widow sought help from an unrighteous judge. The unrighteous judge took bribes, but she did not have any money to give a bribe. So she was neglected, but kept coming. And finally the judge did take care of her problem.

VII. True Repentance

Then we are told that God’s people must “turn from their wicked ways.” True repentance is a one-hundred-and-eighty degree turn from our sin. Jesus told the adulterous woman, “Neither do I condemn you” (John 8:11). Then did he say, “Go home and commit more adultery”? No. Jesus declared, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” We must turn from sin and do God’s will as found in the word of God.

In Ephesians 4:28 we read, “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.” Previously, a man stole; now he has something to give, by working six days a week.

The prodigal son did the same thing. He went away from the father’s authority and wasted all his money. Finally, he did not have anything to eat. He sat down, and he said, “I will arise and go to my father’s house, and I will say to him. ‘I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am not worthy to be called your son. But I am hungry.’” In other words, “I will be your slave.” But God forgave his sin and the father forgave his sin (Luke 15).

VIII. “I Will Hear from Heaven”

Then God says, “I will hear from heaven.” To me, this is a miracle. God hears from heaven the prayer of a sinner who repents. Our prayer is based on his promises. Man lies, but God cannot lie.

IX. “Forgive Their Sins”

God says, “I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins.” In 1 John 1:9 we read, “If you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I am surprised by God’s forgiveness. Our sin against him is infinite because he is infinite, eternal, holy, and triune. (PGM) But there is a way to forgive our sins. This is called substitutionary atonement, “that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them” (2 Cor. 5:19).  I sinned, but God forgave all my sins. It is a miracle. How did this come to pass? “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). “The wages of sin is [eternal] death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). God can forgive our sins because Christ died in our place for our sins.

We read about this substitutionary atonement in Isaiah 53:4–5: “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

So God can say, “I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins” because Christ died for our sins. This is called the double transaction. Christ took our sins, our guilt, our punishment, and our hell. Reformed theology says Jesus Christ on the cross went to hell to experience our hell. And he gave us his perfect righteousness. So now, clothed in him, in his righteousness, we may come before God. God sees us covered with the perfect righteousness of Christ. Without holiness, no one can see him; now, we can see him because we are righteous in Christ.

X. “And Will Heal Their Land”

Finally, the Lord says he “will heal their land.” All of a sudden, there will be rain coming, and grain coming and bread coming. The locusts will be gone, and there will be health, food, and security. When we do these ten things, when we confess our sins and turn from them, God will give us bread, health and security.

The Sin of Solomon

The Lord had already spoken from Deuteronomy 17 to Solomon:

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel. (Deut. 17:14–20)

Yet Solomon did not examine himself to see his sins, which were many. But God saw them all. Consider the following:

1. Solomon refused to obey his King, the Lord.
2. He became autonomous.
3. He had a copy of the Bible.
4. He was to read it daily.
5. He was to govern daily in obedience to the word.
6. He did not honor or obey his God.
7. He acquired great numbers of horses against God’s word.
8. He let his people return to Egypt to get more horses against God’s word.
9. He did not trust God to defend his people.
10. He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines.
11. The Bible permits only one wife. In Matthew 19, while speaking about divorce, Jesus said, “In the beginning it was not so.” God’s original plan was one man for one woman (i.e., Adam and Eve).
12. These wives worshiped other gods (demons), that is, the devil.
13. These wives led Solomon astray from the word.
14. He was not the head of his house (1 Tim. 3; 1 Pet. 3).
15. He accumulated large amounts of gold and silver against God’s counsel.
16. He did not obey all God’s decrees.
17. He never repented as David did (Psalms 32 and 51).
18. So God became his enemy.

We read about what Solomon did in 1 Kings 11:

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, ’You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.’ Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites., So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. So the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the head of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.” (1 Kings 11:1–13)

1. Solomon loved many foreign wives against God’s word.
2. His wives led Solomon astray to worship false gods.
3. He did not love God with all his heart.
4. He was not godly but worldly. Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and Money,” or God and many foreign wives.
5. He built temples for his wives for the worship of demons.
6. God appeared to him twice but he became a pluralist. What is a pluralist? A pluralist says all religions are equally true.
7. He abandoned the word of God.
8. He loved his foreign wives more than the God of the Bible who appeared to him twice.
9. He did not practice 1 Corinthians 7:39, which says that a believer must marry “in the Lord.”
10. God became angry with Solomon.
11. He broke God’s covenant,
12. He was not led by the Holy Spirit in the word, as we read in Isaiah 11:1–3: “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.” Solomon did not delight in the fear of the Lord.
13. God raised up enemies against his people.
14. Solomon failed to examine himself, confess his sins, and send all his foreign wives and children away, as they did in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.
15. He did not destroy the temples he built for the worship of demons.
16. The wisest man, the richest man, and the most powerful man became a fool.

Conclusion

Let us examine ourselves as God’s holy people. Let us confess our sins to God. Let us forsake our sins. Let us do the will of God. Let us imitate the prodigal son who repented truly and received forgiveness of God and his father. Let us start a new year, 2021, to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

God says in Isaiah 1:18–19, “‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land.’”

May God bless you all richly in the new year, growing in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and in holiness.