2 Chronicles 21:16-20
July 29, 2023
And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger of the Philistines and of the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king's house, and also his sons and his wives so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son.
And after all this, the Lord struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease. In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honor, like the fires made for his fathers. He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no one's regret. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
No fear of God. What kind of man does the Lord tell us is a fool, was Jehoram such a man? Psalm 14:1, “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God. They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.” Jehoram was blessed with a dad and granddad who had a healthy desire to please God, they were blessed, and so was the nation of Judah who followed their leadership. But Jehoram modeled the way of Ahab whose daughter he had married. Do you recall in Chapter 19:2, “But Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?” Jehu is talking about Jehoshaphat joining Ahab in battle. Who are you joining in battle with? As a follower of Christ, we should often follow the advice we find in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” When we act and talk like the world, we are not following the example of our Lord.
Jehoram's death was agonizing, but it cannot compare to the suffering of his eternal hell. I told Jan this morning that we need to be more diligent and persistent in sharing the truth there is an eternal hell that is an endless punishment, for all who reject Jesus Christ. It was not designed for mankind, but for the devil and his angels, mankind chooses to go there by rejecting the gift of eternal Salvation, found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
I hear it put this way, It is “Do or Done”. Do, is religion it is all about what you can try to do to earn eternal life. And Done is asking Jesus to come into your life because He is the Truth and the Life, and He died carrying your sins to the Cross, and His blood covers them, that entering into a relationship is not a religion. The sad news is many believe walking an aisle in a church earns them salvation, and for some who by faith in the finished work of the Cross it did, but for some it was just a religious act. For them that enter into a relationship with Christ, it was a confession of what only Jesus could do. His blood covered your sins and was acceptable to the Father.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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