“It’s easier to give grace when we know how much we need grace.”
Sermon Title: SCANDALOUS GRACE
Scripture Text: 2 CHRONICLES 33:1-6
Sermon Notes:
2 CHRONICLES 33:1-6 NIV
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.
2 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them.
4 He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.”
5 In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts.
6 He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger.
THE SUNFLOWER by SIMON WEISENTHAL
2 CHRONICLES 33:2 NIV
2 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
“Grace has about it the scent of scandal. When someone asked theologian Karl Barth what he would say to Adolf Hitler, he replied, ‘Jesus Christ died for your sins.’ Hitler’s sins? Judas’s? Has grace no limit?” — What’s So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey
“We give grace because we ourselves desperately need it.”
JEREMIAH 15:4 NIV
4 I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
THREE SIMPLE WORDS:
I. REBELLION
II. RETRIBUTION
III. REPENTANCE
I. REBELLION
2 CHRONICLES 33:1-6 NIV
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.
2 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them.
4 He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.”
5 In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts.
6 He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger.
2 KINGS 21:16 NIV
16 Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end--besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the LORD.
2 CHRONICLES 33:9-10 NIV
9 But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.
10 The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.
2 THINGS:
– To the Youth: You and I can have the most advantageous upbringing possible, raised to love and follow Jesus, but none of it will do any good if you do not take hold of it and live it for yourself.”
– To the Parents: What we teach our children, they will also look for in our lives.
2 TIMOTHY 3:14-15 NIV
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,
15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
II. RETRIBUTION
2 CHRONICLES 33:11 NIV
11 So the LORD brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.
DEUTERONOMY 30:19 NIV
19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live
“We will be brought one by one to the testing place, and we may never know when we are there. At that testing place there will be no dozen possible choices for us – just one and an alternative – but our whole future will be conditioned by the choice we make.” –A.W. Tozer
“Sometimes, the afflictions that comes upon us are meant to clear away everything that we depend on in this life until we have nothing to come to but God himself.”
III. REPENTANCE
2 CHRONICLES 33:12-16 NIV
12 In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
13 And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.
14 Afterward he rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, west of the Gihon spring in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate and encircling the hill of Ophel; he also made it much higher. He stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities in Judah.
15 He got rid of the foreign gods and removed the image from the temple of the LORD, as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem; and he threw them out of the city.
16 Then he restored the altar of the LORD and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it, and told Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel.
2 CHRONICLES 33:18-20 NIV
18 The other events of Manasseh's reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, are written in the annals of the kings of Israel.
19 His prayer and how God was moved by his entreaty, as well as all his sins and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself-- all are written in the records of the seers.
20 Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in his palace. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.
“Even forgiven sins have consequences.”
THREE SIMPLE WORDS:
I. REBELLION
II. RETRIBUTION
III. REPENTANCE
THREE SIMPLE TRUTHS:
I. NO SIN IS DEEPER THAN GOD’S GRACE
ROMANS 5:20 NIV
20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more
ROMANS 5:20 NIV
20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more
II. WITH GOD’S GRACE, ANYONE CAN FIND A NEW BEGINNING.
JOHN 1:16 ESV
16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
“When grace penetrates into the depth of an anguished soul, joy in the Lord anchors faith.” –William VanGemeren
III. WE ALL NEED GRACE
– No sin is deeper than God’s grace.
– With God’s grace, anyone can have a new beginning.
– We all need grace.
“Why have You chosen me out of millions Your child to be?
You know all the wrong that I’ve done
O, how could You pardon me, forgive my iniquity
To save me, give Jesus Your Son”