PREACHED:OL,1-25-04,AM

“HOW TO MAINTAIN MOMENTUM”

INTRODUCTION

1¨ Thus far in our study of momentum…

A. How to build momentum:

1. Rely on God’s power not will power

2. Obey all of God’s truth

3. Utilize God’s support system (Others)

4. Peace with God not pride in self

B. How to lose momentum:

1. Complacency

2. Confusion

3. Compromise

2¨ But what about the “in between?”

A. How do we maintain momentum?

1. In all my years of preaching, I have discovered that this is the hardest task of all.

a. Unfortunately, we often build momentum with externals, which work for a temporary fix, but will eventually fail.

1) Psa 127.1, 2. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”

1. Of course, we’ve got to fight against those things that destroy it:

a. We must not become complacent!

b. We must not become confused!

c. We must not compromise!

2. Those are the things we shouldn’t do, but what are the things we should do?

a. What can we learn from Hezekiah that will help us?

DISCUSSION

1§ CAREFUL HONEST EVALUATION

A. Hezekiah evaluated the true religious conditions in Judah.

1. He did not close his eyes to the problems:

a. The temple doors had been closed by a lack of faithful worship and service and were in desperate need of repair!

b. He did not gloss over the fact that the previous generation had been unfaithful and neglectful of God’s house.

a) II Chr 29:6,7. “…our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their backs. They also have shut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have not burned incense and offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel.”

2) He saw the problem, but he had to get everybody (especially the leaders) to see it too!

B. Jeremiah said to a disobedient Judah and Jerusalem:

1. Lam 3:40, 41. “Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven…”

C. Paul challenged the Corinthian church:

1. II Cor 13.5, 6. “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you indeed fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test.”

D. Judah had gradually moved away from God, they had fallen into neglect and sin. They were willfully ignorant of their condition and of the consequences of their neglect!

E. POINT WE NEED TO SEE: Momentum can only be maintained by a constant, humble, honest evaluation of our true conditions and needs!

1. We can’t rest on nostalgia, heritage or past accomplishments! We live in the here and now and must act for the future!

2§ CONSTANT MEDITATION AND PRAYER

A. Ironically, the Rabshakeh, the envoy of the king of Assyria, who came to the gates of Jerusalem with his mighty army, raised some important questions for meditation:

1. II King 18.19 “On what do you rest this trust of yours?”

a. Prov 3.5, 6.

2. V 20. “Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war?”

a. Are we talking too much and doing too little?

3. Vs 22. “But if you say, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?’”

a. Are we doing God’s will in God’s way revealed by God’s Word?

1) You see, they enjoyed the worship in the high places, but it wasn’t God’s will!

B. But throughout the reign of Hezekiah we see him seasoning problems and progress with prayer!

1. II Kings 19.1 “As soon as Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord.”

2. The next thing he did was to seek a word from the Lord through God’s prophet Isaiah!

a. V 6. “Isaiah said to them, ’Say to your master, THUS SAYS THE LORD, do not be afraid…”

3. He did the same when God told him to set his house in order, because he was going to die!

a. He wept and prayed and sought God’s will through the mouth of the prophet, Isaiah!

C. POINT WE NEED TO SEE: Our evaluation must be constantly seasoned with meditation and prayer!

3§ CALL FOR CONSECRATED ACTION

A. When Hezekiah evaluated the spiritual condition of the people and the disrepair in the house of God, he recognized that the basic cause of the problem was a lack of consecration to the work of the Lord:

1. II Chr 29.5 “Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place...” V 11 ”My sons, do not be negligent, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him.”

a. V 15, 16 “They gathered their brothers and consecrated themselves and went in as the king commanded, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord. The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought out all the uncleanness that they found…”

2. V 18, 19 “Then they went to Hezekiah the king and said, ‘We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table of showbread and all its utensils. All the utensils that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he was faithless, we have made ready and consecrated, and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.’”

B. What were they to do now? Worship and serve!

1. All because there was a call to action by a godly leader!

a. II Chr 31.20, 21 “Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered!”

C. FINAL POINT WE NEED TO SEE: We need not only to carefully evaluate our condition and circumstances, we need not only to constantly meditate on our resolve and pray for God’s help, but we must consecrate ourselves to faithfully…DO!

THIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS IS HOW WE MAINTAIN MOMEMTUM!