Matt Hagee - While You Are with Him

Hello and welcome to this week’s Sunday conversation. We’re now in the book of 2 Chronicles, and this is a book that is rapidly discussing the ups and downs and significant decline of the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah. Remember, the sons of Solomon, Jeroboam and Rehoboam, started a civil war that did not end until both kingdoms had collapsed. As we read chapter to chapter, generation to generation, leader to leader, what we see is a world that is off target. They’re missing the mark.

You know, sometimes we want to pretend like the outcome is what we were expecting. Have you ever made a mistake and someone sees you in that one moment where you’re walking across the floor and you slip, fall, and tumble, but then stand back up on your feet and say, «Oh, I meant to do that»? Sometimes we do things, and rather than take accountability for the fact that it didn’t turn out like we wanted, we pretend that that’s exactly what we were hoping for.

And that’s what we see when we look at Israel in the book of 2 Chronicles. They’re like an archer who pulls back the bow and shoots the arrow. After the arrow finds its place, then they go and draw the bullseye. They don’t shoot at the target; they shoot, and whatever it hits, then they draw the target and pretend like they’re hitting that mark. This is what we read in 2 Chronicles 15, verses 1-6. Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa, and he said to him, «Hear me, Asa, and all of Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with him.»

Think about that: The Lord is with you while you are with him. Obedience brings a blessing. He says, «If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.» These are not revolutionary ideas; these are principles that God has practiced from generation to generation. Deuteronomy 28: if you obey, if you heed the voice of the Lord your God, all of these blessings will come upon you. Verse 15 and 16: If you disobey, if you forget to keep my commandments, all of these curses will come upon you. Jesus said, «Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened unto you.» Whenever you are doing the things that God’s word requires, you are receiving the blessings that God’s word promises. Whenever you are doing the things that are in opposition to and rebellion against God’s word, then, simply stated, you do not receive God’s blessings. The Bible says that here in this verse: if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

Now here’s how we know that Israel is way off target. It says, «For a long time, Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law.» Do you see a three-fold cord that creates a stable society? One: God. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Without God’s hand, there is no blessing. Then a teaching priest: those who declare the truth of God’s word. If God is going to be in a nation, then those who are declaring God’s word have to teach his truth.

When you see a weak church, you see a weak people. When you see a strong church, you see a strong people. And the strength of both the church and the people are determined by God’s hand on their life and in their circumstances. And then the third thing: without law. Now remember, for Israel, the Torah, the word of God, was the law. Go read the book of Leviticus; it’s all laws and statutes and things that control the civil environment and daily lives of individuals who lived in the land. Because they didn’t have God’s blessing, and because they didn’t have strong leadership in the house of God, they didn’t have law.

Look at the United States. How much do you see these three things in the society we live in today? In many cases, there are entire sections of this nation that are completely lawless. «Oh, we’ll be a sanctuary city for those who are trying to break the law. We won’t apply that law. We’ll do this.» And what do we see? We see lawlessness. You see individuals betray the natural laws and the written laws, and they’re held without consequence. But one of the reasons that this is so is that, in many places, we don’t have people teaching the word of God, and we are a nation that is divided on this issue of faith. Yet the Bible’s very clear: Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

You see, Judah and Israel in 2 Chronicles both wanted to believe that God was with them because of who they were. «God is with us because we’re the descendants of Abraham.» «God is with us because we’re the rightful heirs to the throne of David.» «God is with us " — fill in the blank as to what their justifications were. But whenever you are pretending that God is with you, but you’re not with him, your life is not hitting the mark. People pretend that their life is hitting the mark, and the truth is they’re just faking it, pretending that they have the real answer to the problem. So how do we fix it?

Step one: take personal responsibility for who you are, where you are, and what you’re doing. Listen to the words that came to Azariah that he shared with Asa, the king. He said, «Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with him.» What we see happening in this nation is a broad-spectrum thing, but it’s not broadly affecting individuals; it’s individuals who have made it a broad problem. Sin and living away from God is not a worldwide problem. It’s not a national problem. It’s not a countywide problem. It’s not a citywide problem. It’s not a churchwide problem. It’s a personal problem. If you choose to disobey God, it does not impact my desire or my decision to do the same.

I have to be responsible for me, and you have to be responsible for you. When you resolve the personal issue, you begin to improve everything around you. If I choose to live by God’s word, my home becomes a place where God’s word is the standard. And when I bring my home to the congregation in the church, then my church becomes a stronger church. And when my church becomes a stronger church, then my city becomes a stronger city. And when my city becomes a stronger city, the state becomes a stronger state. The nation becomes a stronger nation.

When the nation whose God is the Lord becomes a stronger nation, the world gets to be a stronger world. We’ve seen very real evidence of this just in the last several months: what happens when deliberate decisions are made to take responsibility for the things that need to be fixed and decide that if we can face it, God can fix it. I want to say that again because it’s important that some of you understand how powerful that truth is: If you can face it, God can fix it. And you need to understand that that’s how your mindset should be about everything because Jesus tells us very clearly, «Apart from me, you can do nothing.»

So it doesn’t matter what the size of the problem is; you don’t have the ability to solve small problems, much less big problems, because apart from him, you can do nothing. But with him, you can do all things. For example, look at a big problem: 75% of marriages in the United States end in divorce, and that’s a huge statistic. People say, «Well, what can we do about it?» If we can face it, God can fix it. Because while that’s a big statistic and the nation is a big nation, there’s no couple that decided to dissolve their marriage because of a statistic. It was a personal decision. Take responsibility.

In this generation, we’re trying to erase the beauty of God’s creation by saying that God created two distinct genders: male and female. We’ve devalued them. And people want to say, «Well, that’s a big problem.» No, it’s a personal decision. Look at it through the lens of scripture. Not only did God create two genders, but God holds both in equal value. Genesis 2: 22 very clearly says that this woman that came from man is an equal partner to Adam: flesh of his flesh, bone of his bone. He could not exist nor was he complete without her. Ephesians 5: 22 states there that God gives to the husband a wife. This is God’s blessing on two distinct genders. It’s a personal decision how you decide to live your life. «Oh, well, society says…» Society is not the one who decides for you; you decide for you. And if you allow society to influence you more than God’s word, then you’re going to have to give an explanation to the God who created you.

Because the word of the Lord from Azariah came to Asa, and not only does it say that the Lord is with you while you are with him, but it says, «If you seek him, he will be found by you; and if you forsake him, he will forsake you.» It’s not a, «I’ll be there when you want me.» It’s, «You’re with me, or you’re not.» It’s a matter of personal choice.

Verse 4 says, «But when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel and sought him, he was found by them.» This is a verse filled with hope because it tells us how merciful and how gracious our God is. Israel is without God; they’re without a teaching priest; they’re without law. It leads to trouble. They’re troubled by other nations; they’re troubled by all types of problems. And every time that they get in trouble, it says they turned to the Lord God of Israel and sought him, and he was found by them. Every time you turn to God, he’s faithful to be there. Every time you look for him, you’ll find him. Every time you need him, he’s present. Not that you deserve it, but this is the kind of God that he is.

Verse 5 says, «In those times, there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all of the inhabitants of the land. So nation was destroyed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity.» But you be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded. Azariah is giving a word to King Asa, and he’s telling Asa, «Listen, these are troubling times, but you don’t have to be troubled. These are difficult days, but they don’t have to be hard for you. These are times of struggle, but you don’t have to struggle. If you’ll seek the Lord, obey his word, then the work of your hands shall be rewarded.»

We may live in a very similar situation as Asa did. We may live in a time when many people in society turn away from God, when the problems are too big for us to solve, when we’re looking for answers and no one will declare the truth. But I believe that this verse is just as true today as it was the day that it was spoken: that if we seek him and we’re with him, not only will we find him, but he’ll be with us. And if we are strong and take responsibility for ourselves, then the work of our hands will be rewarded. Even in difficult times, God is still a good God. And if you give him the chance, he’ll show you how many blessings he has in store for your life.