A Sermon (#550) Preached By William “Bill” Touchton
Edited By Michael D. Lawson
If you have your Bibles, turn with me to the book of 2 Kings chapter 20.
Whenever I went to school, we had a chapel service every morning, and they would usually invite a guest speaker from the area to come in and preach.
Sometimes it would be a pastor…sometimes a missionary, or someone from the Southern Baptist Convention office. We would have music and a message.
Well there was one service that I remember very well…now I don’t remember who the speaker was…but I remember the message. He spoke about how fortunate we were to be able to attend a school like this…and how blessed we were to have these professors…He said each of these (professors) could teach anywhere in the world, and make more money than what they make, but they have stayed to give themselves for us…and he was right…and these men made a significant contribution to our lives.Then, at the end of the message he had all the professors come to the front and asked us to go to these men and thank them…And I went to each of my professors…shook their hands and said…Thank you from the bottom of my heart…And I remember leaving, thinking, I wish I could do something more than just say the words…Have you ever felt like that?
You are just so appreciative that you want to do something more than just utter a word.
I feel the same thing when I think about what God has done…Now the Bible says…Be ye thankful…and I am…But there has got to be a better way of expression than just saying a word in our prayers. And I think that there is. And I want to show you tonight how we can bette express ourselves.
In the spring of 1985 Alissa Dupriest was about 8 years old. It was a school day and her mother went to wake her up, but she told her mother she had a headache and didn’t feel well. Her mother thought, as most mothers do, that this is your typical Monday morning – I don’t feel well can I stay home from school trick – So she told her she would give her another 5 minutes and that was it.
Well, 5 minutes later, she came back and tried to wake Allisa, but she was unable to do so…After a minute or two, she realized there was a problem and called 911. In a few minutes, the response squad arrived, checked her vital signs and by that time, her temperature was well over 100 degrees…unable to wake her, they loaded her up and went straight to the emergency room.
When they got there, the doctor felt the was to serious for this small hospital so they loaded her into a life flight helicopter and transported her to a large hospital in another town…
Just a few moments after the mother and father arrived the doctor came into the room and told them that Alissa was suffering from encephalitis…which caused the brain to swell…and he said that if we hot to her earlier, we may have been able to do something, but right now it was a wait and see situation.
The next 12 hours were going to be critical.
Here’s what he said. He said, if she lives, you have to know that there’s a 80% chance that she will incur permanent brain trauma.
When he said that, the mother collapsed into the arms of her husband and sobbed uncontrollably.
Several hours later, the father said to me, “Can I talk to you?” He said, “I know I have not lived like God wanted me to…but I want you to know that if God will raise her up, I will live for him.”
We prayed and asked God to do a miracle.
That afternoon, the doctor came back and said, “The temperature is gone. So is the swelling. We have run some test and everything looks normal. She’s going to be fine. Let’s keep her overnight and you can take her home in the morning.”
Everybody said, “Thank you Jesus!” The next day they took her home.
Sunday morning he had the whole family in church…and Sunday night they shared a testimony of praise. Wednesday night they wrestled there…and things went like that for several weeks…when things turned back to normal, so did Frank and his family…He was thankful…but it wore off in a hurry. After a few weeks, he decided he and God were even. God gave him his girl, and he gave God a couple weeks.
Frank was in the Navy when his little girl got sick…His wife was a fine Christian lady, but Frank was not. In fact, he told me he was an atheist. They didn’t know what to do. Their baby just got worse and worse so they took her to the emergency room…after an hour or so, the doctors came and said, “We have done all we can, but she continues to worsen. If you want to see her, you better come now.”
They went and stood over this child and wept. They cried for God to help her.
In a few minutes they went back to the waiting room and Frank went in the bathroom and locked the door. He got down on his knees and said, “O, God. If you will save her lie, then you can have mine” and right there on the bathroom floor God saved him and gave him incredible peace. When he came out, he told his wife everything was going to be OK.
And it was. Sometime later the doctor came back and said, she’s going to be OK, let’s get her on some medicine and you can take her home.
Sunday came and for the first time, Frank sat in church by his wife. He made his public profession, was baptized, and never forgot his promise. And he has lived for God everyday since…and served him.
He used to have a pastor by the name of Herman Moore. Pastor Moore said he’s the best man I have in my church. In fact, he is the reason we have grown like we have.
Now watch…two families…two problems. Both were in need of the grace and mercy of God. Both cried out. Both made promises. One fulfilled his. The other did not. One expressed if by his lips. One expressed it by his life.
Now listen to this…When the Apostle Paul wrote to the church and said, “Be ye thankful” that’s the kind of response he was looking for and that’s the kind of response you find in this chapter.
As we open our Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 20, it says that Hezekiah was “sick unto death.” Even though it’s not stated, I believe it’s implied that he had done everything he could do to find a cure to not avail.
“You shall die,” Isaiah said, “and not live.”
So Hezekiah turns his face to the wall and cry out to God and God hears and responds and extends his life.
Do you think he was grateful? Let me show you how he expressed it…
HE EXPRESSED IT WITH LOVE…BECAUSE GOD SAVED HIS LIFE.
“I love the Lord”…Why? Because “He hath heard my voice and supplications”…He moved him off his death bed.
Here’s a question for you. Has God saved your life? How many of you have had a brush with death and lived to tell about it? How many of you have been sick of an illness you could have died from? How many of you have been in an accident that you could have died from? How many have been in near miss accidents where God somehow brought you through?
Let me tell you why you are alive…Because God is good!
Psalm 118:1 says, “O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good because his mercy endureth forever”.
God is good! Everyone in this building should be dead. If not for the mercy of God, we would be.
I had a conversation with someone the other day that had a brush with death. He said his guardian angel was with him. I told him, “Oh No! That was an angel of death pursuing you! You are alive because God in his grace wants you to have more time.”
Hezekiah expressed his love because God saved his life.
He expressed his love because God saved his soul.
Look at verses 3-8. He expressed his thanks with his love.
HE EXPRESSED IT WITH HIS LIFE…
Notice the 4 “I will” statements from Hezekiah. I will…
Walk…Witnes…Work…Worship…
He says in verse 9, I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
My walk in the world ought to be according to the gratitude of my heart.
The same with our witness…
Verse 13 says, “I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord”…
This cup was similar to our Lord’s Supper…Instead of looking back to the cross, it was looking forward to the cross…those that participated gave witness to their faith in the Lord Jesus.
We should express gratitude with our work.
People who are truly thankful…they serve…they give…they have an attitude that says, What can I give back?
Gratitude should be expressed in our worship.
People who love Him, live for Him. They worship him publicly.
Are you thankful today?