AM Nothing is Everything (Part 1)

Introduction

It’s great to see everybody. And those of you who might be visiting with us, I’m a visitor too, so we’re in this together. But it’s great to have you, and Lord willing, you will be edified by your time with this spiritual family today. I’ve heard about this family in Christ for a long time. I’ve known Tony and Cherry for a long time. Just a privilege to have them in my friend database. Good to see Laura again. She and I worked camped together for many years, and many of your teams I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time with at the West Side Lectures. And so there is certainly some association here, but I’m really looking forward to the week and getting to meet everybody. But those of you that are visiting, if you were looking for a church home, I believe you have found one here today.

And if there’s anything that we can do to help you grow closer to the Lord and help you in your walk with the Lord, please let us know. I realize I’m a visitor myself, but I will validate this word. And it’s good to have you with us this morning. Alright. I hope you have the Heavenly Library. If you don’t have a copy of the Heavenly Library, make sure you grab a Pew Bible. And I want you to take down the book of 2 Chronicles. We’re going to the Old Testament this morning. One of the neat things that I really appreciate from the elders and Tony is that when they called and set up this series, they didn’t really assign me anything. They said, I just bring whatever you want.

And I’m like, really? Whatever I want? Yeah, whatever you think. Great. And so this is one of those stories, one of my whatever you want lessons that I believe is extremely powerful. It makes it extremely powerful, certainly, as it comes from God’s Word. But it’s one of those stories that we probably haven’t studied, and some of you may have never even heard of before. 2 Chronicles chapter 20. While you’re turning there, let me just set the stage for you. The story’s about a young king. In fact, if you look back in the preceding chapter, you’ll see that this man was a very young king when he took the throne. And he took the throne at a time in which the nation really was divided. In fact, there were two kingdoms in Israel.

You had a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom. And so I don’t know what he was thinking. Here he is taking the throne of the southern kingdom. He was probably thinking like any ambitious young king would do, you know what I’ll do? I’m going to get everybody back together. Alright? I’m not going to try to make everybody there. I don’t know if that’s exactly what he was thinking, but you kind of had that impression because he’s going to go to the king in the north, and he’s going to say, hey, good seat. What do you want to do? And that king goes, well, hey, since we’re buds, let’s go to war. You’re like, okay. I thought you were just going to say, let’s go out and play.

Maybe play some rook or something. No, let’s go to war. What do you want? And he goes, Yeah, I want to go to war. And the young king is going to go, is this really a good idea? Oh, yeah. Let me give you a little hint. Speak to all the teens. When you choose your friends, choose your friends wisely. And if your friend happens to be named Ahab, it’s probably a pretty good idea you had chose it very well. Because that was the king in the northern kingdom. He said, Alright. And even though, even though there’s going to be a man of God that’s going to come and warn them, they’re going to go into this war. And it almost costs this young king his life.

1. Jehoshaphat Set His Face to Seek the Lord

Because Ahab’s going to betray. It’s not going to work out well for Ahab. And this young king’s going to escape. So he goes back home. And that’s where we pick up the story in 2 Chronicles chapter 20. After this, the Moabites and the Ammonites, and with them some of the Minuites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, a great multitude is coming against you from Edom from beyond the sea, and behold, they are in Hazazon Tamar, that is in Geti. Then Jehoshaphat was afraid. And he set his face to seek the Lord, and he proclaimed the fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord from all the cities of Judah. They came to seek the Lord. I want you to notice here, right at the very beginning of this, is that this is kind of an unusual story.

And it’s unusual for this reason. When you get at the very beginning of the story, you’ll notice that all of a sudden, out of nowhere, are all these nations coming up against Judah. And here’s what the text tells us. You’ve got Amnon, Amon, and Moab. Now, here’s what’s interesting. These nations really didn’t get along that well if you go back and look at history. But for some reason, they’ve decided, you know what? Let’s get together and go against Judah. And so that’s what they do. Now, Moab, if you’re a Bible person and you’ve been in the Bible, they’ve been to Bible class for a long time. That nation may strike a bell with you. Remember, it was Moab and the king of Moab that hired Balaam many years ago when the Israelites are in the wilderness and wanted Balaam to come and to curse Moses and curse the people.

You know, that’s the great story of Balaam’s donkey talking to him, and this, that, and the other. So there’s definitely a history there. But now these nations are getting together, and it’s not just not just those two nations, but you also have the men from Mount Zia or Minuites, depending on what translation you have. And they decide, you know what? Let’s attack Judah. The text doesn’t tell us why. Well, what is it Judah had? Does Judah have a lot of gold mines? Have they got a lot of money? Well, not necessarily, certainly, not like what they had in the days of Solomon. if they got some other precious resources, well, we don’t know. In fact, it wasn’t that uncommon in this day and age, back in this time in history, that people would just attack nations to get people.

Hey, we’ve got a big building project, we need some workers. All right, let’s go get some workers. Let’s attack another nation and bring them on in here. That’s the kind of labor there is. You know, it’s like a kid working for your parents. You know, they just attack you and you have to work for them. We don’t know why. We don’t know why. But all of a sudden, there’s this massive alliance, and this massive army is now coming against Judah. And notice what, notice what Jehoshaphat does. Jehoshaphat says, All right, here’s what we’re gonna do. Let’s have a fast. All right. We’re the people of God, let’s fast. And so the fasting is going to be included with prayer. I mean, can you imagine? Well, would that’s not, you know, let’s just kind of set aside, you know, all the challenge here with the war and everything.

But can you imagine? Can you imagine being in a nation where your king went? All right, here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna pray and fast. Everybody with me? Really? I mean, there’d have to be a part of me going, yeah, this is just cool.

2. Our Eyes Are on the Lord: I Got Nothing

Our king. Our king said, let’s go to God. In fact, you’ll notice in just the first few verses here, those first four verses, three times, three times in the text, you have this phrase, seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. So that’s what Jehoshaphat and the people do. Verse 5. And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court, and he said, O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, in your hand are power and might, so that none is able to stand against you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel? Give it forever to the descendants of Abraham, your friend?

And David. And have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence or famine, we will stand before this house and before you for your name in this house, and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and say. And now behold. The men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Zir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy. Behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. Oh our God. Will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us.

We do not know what to do. But our eyes are on the Lord. Meanwhile, all Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, their wives, and their children. Now, can I invite you once again to slow down? Imagine this scene.

Maybe we can try to get it in our mind. You ever see pictures of the presidential inauguration when everybody gathers in the great mall there in Washington, D.C.? Yeah. There’s hordes of people, and they’re all gathered at the steps of the Capitol and the king or the president, as we will say, will stand before the people, and everybody’s there, and everybody’s gathered together. I want you to see this scene. This is a scene in which everybody is now gathered in Jerusalem, and all the families are standing together, and they’re all at the temple courtyard. And it extends from the temple courtyard all the way down through the streets. Can you imagine all the people? And everybody there is huddled. They don’t know what to do. They come from all over, all the surrounding cities, and they’ve all made their way up to Jerusalem.

But it’s not the day of celebration, as with the Passover or the harvest station. No. They’re there because they’re scared. They’re there because they’re in fear. And they’re there to seek. They’re there to seek their king. And they’re there to seek those who can lead them out of this trouble. And so they’ve all gathered and they’re all huddled together. And they’ve gathered to their king. Incidentally, you know what Jehoshaphat’s name means? Judge. Jehovah is judge. And so now what they’re all doing as a people is they are beseeching the judgment of the Lord. Notice verse 9. Notice verse 9. Go back to verse 9. Jehoshaphat in his prayer. He’s going to steal a line from Solomon. This line that you see here if disaster comes upon a sword or judgment, you know, we’re going to stand near that.

That was something that Solomon said at the dedication of the temple. And so Jehoshaphat, he’s not holding nothing back. He’s going back into history to remind the people and also to beseech the Lord. We come to this place. We come to this place that represents you. And so everybody is there. Everybody is there. And their king has stood before them. And he led this incredible prayer. And he’s standing before them as their leader. And they’re all looking for answers, hoping for answers, longing for answers. And they come to the man who can give them answers. And notice what he says in verse 12. I got nothing. I got nothing.

At the very end of this incredible, powerful speech and prayer. Its summation is nothing. I got nothing. Oh, king. I don’t know if you heard or not, but the intelligence reports say that these armies are coming. I mean, and they’re coming, and they’re sneaking around the back way, and they’re going to ambush us, and the king goes. I got nothing. No, can’t you understand? They’re all united together, and they’re gonna, they’re gonna, they’re gonna they’re gonna ravage our cities and they’re gonna pillage and they’re gonna take, they’re gonna destroy us. This is gonna be bad. Come on. I got nothing. No! No, King, we gotta do something. Somebody’s gotta do something. Somebody’s gonna move, add, move, shake. We gotta do this.

I got nothing. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? Hey, have you ever in your life, ever heard a leader of a people, a leader of a nation, somebody who’s wanting to hold the place of prominence or power, say? Beats me. I have no idea. Can you imagine? You’re single as presidential debates where they voice all these questions, and everybody just goes on and on and your guy going, okay, sir, what are you gonna do with this great big deficit and this that and the other and help care and this that and the other?

Maybe like for eight. Really? You told us to fast and to pray, and we’ve all showed up, and nothing. Really? Nothing. What kind of a king says that?

Look, what kind of a king looks into the fear? Looks into these faces, and says, I got nothing. May I suggest to you an honest one? Does that? An honest king does that. You know, some of us may have been in situations maybe not exactly like this. But you could probably identify a little bit with Jehoshaphat when he says, I don’t know what to do. Place is silent. Everybody’s standing there with their families. Can you imagine what that was like? Can you imagine the tears, the fear? And then in the silence, verse 14, there’s this. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jehaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaniah, the son of Jerael, the son of Mattheniah of Levite of the sons of Asaph in the midst of the assembly.

3. The Battle Is Not Yours, but God's

And he said, Listen, all inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat. Thus saith the Lord to you, do not be afraid. And do not be dismayed at this great horde. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up from the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jebrul, and you will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf. Oh Jerusalem and Judah, do not be afraid. Do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you. Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground.

And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. And the Levites and the Kohathites and the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. Again, slow down and see this scene. Everybody is gathered together. Everybody is crammed into this massive courtyard around the temple. And the king makes his great declaration. I got nothing. And then in the silence, there’s this guy who stands up. He’s been moved by God. And this is his message. Listen to me. Notice if you go back and look at that. He says, listen to me. This is actually one of those great Shema prayers. Shema means listen or hear in the Hebrew. Think back to Deuteronomy chapter 6.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God. It’s a Shiva prayer. And so and so. So now, here is this prophet going, listen. Listen. Hear me. And the message is this. Do not be afraid. Notice he also uses this line the battle’s not yours. Now, if you’re a Bible student, that should jump out to you. Can anybody think of another time in Scripture in which somebody said the battle is not yours but God’s? Think about it. I’ll give you a hint. A good-looking young guy, probably about five foot five, brown hair, blue eyes. And a big ugly giant.

The battle’s not yours. The command, go. Just go. And when you go, notice what he says. Hold your position. Stand firm. See the salvation of the Lord. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you. Now let’s slow down for a moment. In my previous life, before I became a full-time preacher, I was a news reporter. Alright? I had the greatest job in the world. Great. I got to watch the shuttle blast off. That was my job. So anytime shuttle blasts off, I had to go stand out in the hurricanes. Oh, that is a blast. Trust me. It is a blast. There is nothing more fun. I know you’re looking up there and go. These people are idiots. Yes, they are. But it’s fun idiotism, if I can choose that word.

You don’t report live on the inner co in the inside the cities. You go to the beach, and the only thing that’s going to hit you on the beach is wind waves or a straight pelican. You’re really safe out there, alright? It’s fun. But as a reporter, as a reporter, I always had one question in every situation. Why? Why’d you do that? Why are we doing this? Why do you want to? Why? Why? I mean, why? There’s no whys here. There’s no how here. Alright, all right, Lord, you’re saying to go out again. There’s a big army. And you’re just saying, go. How do you go? Just go. How do we fight? Not your fight. Just go. Isn’t it amazing how God works with us like that sometimes?

4. Jehoshaphat Puts the Musicians Out First

For we would really like to have a whole lot more information that his command is just go. Verses 18 to 21. You’ll notice Jehoshaphat will worship the Lord. Alright? He’ll fall down in his face, and the Levites will begin to sing. And then in verse 20. And they rose early in the morning. They went out into the wilderness of Jacoba. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established. Believe his prophets, and you will succeed. And when he had taken counsel of the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and to praise him in holy attire. And they went before the army and they said, Give thanks to the Lord for his steadfast love endures forever.

Oh wait, I’m about to. What? So slow down and see this. See, you can’t miss this. Do not miss this. Jehoshaphat has decided, all right, all right. The battle belongs to the Lord. And we’re gonna go. Alright, we’re gonna go. Everybody, I know I said earlier I got nothing. Now I got something. We’re just gonna go out and meet him.

Really? Yeah! And Jehoshaphat actually effes it up a little bit. He goes, We’re not gonna go out and meet him. He doubles down. We’re gonna go out and meet him in Saul. Now, I gotta slow down for just a moment. Alright? I’m gonna share you something about me. Please don’t think less of me. Alright? Trust me, please don’t think less of me. Alright. I’ve got a son. He’s actually in his first year at Florida College, doing very well. He’s a great young boy. and he’s just he’s just a thrill to my life. Both of my children are just a blast. But I’ve I’ve always I’ve always had this fear with my son, okay? I grew up in Texas.

Grew up in West Texas, up in Lubbock, and went to Lubbock, Monterey, a big 5A high school. And if you’re in Lubbock and you’re in a big high school, you play ball. That’s just what you do. You grow up with a ball in your hand. You’re either playing baseball, golf, your tennis, football, if you’re big enough and the coach will let you. Sometimes the coach won’t let you, but that’s what you want to do. And so that’s how you live your life, you know. And so when I remember my son was born, I was like, yeah. Let’s get a ball in his hand, we’re going to enjoy life. But I’ve always had this fear. Always had this fear that one day that son who was going to be an all-American.

Win the masters or whatever else I could call you. I just fear that one day he’s going to come to me and go.

I just want to sing. But Daddy, I just want to be in the bed. So don’t think less of that.

Because whatever goes on in your mind about the guy in the chorus or the band, whatever stereotype you may have in your mind, you better wide out and throw it away right now. Because you know what Jehoshaphat does? He puts the musicians out first. He put them up first. In fact, they’re going to go out and they’re going to sing a song that Israel will always sing. They will always sing when they’re coming back to the Lord. Notice here. Notice what they would sing. They would sing the song of Asah. Asaph, that great musician of David, that great man who wrote many of the songs that we sing and understand and study today. And this was his great line that was passed down through all the generations.

It didn’t matter when it happened, when it didn’t matter what the revival was, whether it was Hezekiah or any of the other kings, even in the days that they rebuilt the temple in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, and they went back to the land, they always sang this song. Behold, give thanks to the Lord for his steadfast love endures forever. And I want you to notice that Jehoshaphat put the singers out first, and they began to sing this song, and they began to sing praises to the Lord. And notice in verse 22, and when they began to sing and praise the Lord, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab and Mount Zeir, who had come against Judah so that they were routed.

For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Zir, devoting them to destruction. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Zir, they all helped to destroy one. Are you kidding me?

What? Joseph had goes, All right. I have no idea what to do, but God said, Go, and we’re gonna go. In fact, we’re gonna show our faith in God so much, we’re not gonna put the strong and the mighty at the front of the line. No, we’re gonna put the chorus. And they’re gonna sing. And when they begin to sing, the battle began. I want you to see something here. Some of you may be into geography, others may not, but this is really cool and so important in the story. I want you to see and understand exactly what this story shows us. The first thing it shows us that the inhabitants of Mount Zir and Emmett and Moab, they decided they were coming from the east.

And what’s interesting, most of their nations would have been not just east of the Dead Sea, but northeast of the Dead Sea. So if you’re really going to come into Jerusalem, you would come in from the north. They don’t do that. And they were going to come in from the south, and they make their way up around the Dead Sea, and they come up to a place just south of Tokoah, and it’s some ravines. It’s ravines.

And this is where they were. And it’s really not really not the best place to be if you’re a commander leading your army to be down in the ravine coming up. But that’s what God knew was happening. They were trying to sneak in from the south. Who comes in from the south that way? They should come from the north. But they heard they were coming. They knew where they were coming, and God knew what was happening. And so he sent them out to them. And so as the army is at the top of the ravines and singing. These fierce enemies in the bottom of their veins working their way up.

5. A Valley of Blessing

Now, here’s what’s interesting. Go back and notice. Verse 22. And the Lord sent an ambush.

How then? Did he send an angel to make the first cry? He says, Some of the historians, you know what some historians say. The singing was so loud it freaked them out. Freaked them out. The Israelites seemed so confident and bold, it scared them. And then in their fear, somehow they began to turn around. Some have even alluded. Some have alluded to the fact that maybe one of the Hebrew words for praise is Jada, and it’s very similar to a Hebrew word or a word in the Aramaic that means to shoot. They’re shooting! No! No, they were just singing. We don’t know. The point is we don’t know. It was the hand of God. But they started fighting one another. And when Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, verse 24.

They looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground. None had escaped. None. None. When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them a great number of goods, clothing and precious things, and they took for themselves and so they could carry no more. In fact, they were three days. Three days. And taking in the spoil, it was so much. On the fourth day they assembled in the valley of Biracah. For there they blessed the Lord. And therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Nirachah to this day. Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies.

They came to Jerusalem with harps and leers and trumpets to the house of the Lord, and the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they had heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet. For as God gave him rest all around. This is that valley. A valley of blessing.

This was literally walking through the valley of the shadow of death. But there was no need to fear and tremble, for indeed God was three days to get all the blessings. Three days to pick it all up.

Today’s lesson is actually a two part. Or stop right here. Is it okay to stop right now?

6. Admit They Had Nothing Without Him

We’re going to make some application to this incredible story tonight. I think there’s some powerful, wonderful application that we can make to our lives in this story. But here’s the one thing I want to make sure you get from the story, and I want to give you one quick application. The only reason, the only reason that Jehoshaphat and all the people have so much now is because they had the honesty and the humility to come before their God and admit they had nothing without him. Nothing.

And there was no shame in saying that. They set aside all their pride and they had the humility to admit. There were no excuses.

That’s what’s amazing. There’s no blame. But I got nothing. Notice what Jehoshaphat says in verse 12. If there’s ever a line, if you’d like to write in your Bible or underlying passages of scripture of their Bible, this one is a must. In fact, those of you who know Chris Emerson and all his coloring that he does in his Bible, give it all 15 pencils or whatever he uses on this screen. Oh God, will you not judge him? For we have no might against this great company that they should come against us. We don’t even know what to do. But our eyes are on. Because the humble man not only can say that, the humble man can now receive the greatest gift that’s ever been offered to man.

And that is the hand of God. What you see in this story is Jehoshaphat influenced God to work for him. He moved God. He moved God. God actually came to his end. Explain to you how this works. A few years ago, a good friend of mine who was an elder for many years in the church in Dauphin was studying with a man. And what’s interesting is the guy that he was studying with was somebody that we had all been trying to study with over the past 30 years. Even when I was there in a preacher training program, I tried to spend time with this guy, and it hung around him a lot. In fact, I spent a lot of time with his son and this, that, and the other, but he just wasn’t interested.

He just wasn’t into the spiritual things. He was married to the most godly woman you could imagine, who was such a great servant of the Lord, but he wasn’t interested at all. But a couple of years ago, as John was studying with him, he was interested. And he was interested, probably because of one great change in his life. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Inoperable. Terminal. Lung cancer. So he was open to listening. And one day in their study, after John was fully convinced that he understood the will of God and he understood the role of Jesus and salvation and what it all meant. John just asked him, Billy, what? What’s keeping you from being baptized into Christ right now? And Billy just shook his head and looked down and said, How can I?

How in the world can I come to the Lord now at the end of my life in a time which I can offer him nothing?

I’ve got nothing to give. John just smiled.

And he said, Billy, don’t you get it? That’s the point. That’s the point. It’s only when we realize we got nothing that everything is possible.

And you don’t save yourself, the Lord saves you.

Conclusion

And Billy goes, Really? He said, Really? That’s why it’s called grace and love and mercy. He was baptized into Christ, and a couple of weeks later he passed away. As a man who had nothing. But in reality, had everything. And I can only imagine the spoils that he’s trying to pick up and carry right now. This morning. What you got? What do you got? Well, if you think that you have something that’s really going to add great value to life from the standpoint that you’re you’re you’re being deceived. Because this story is the story of salvation. This is the story of the Bible. And the story’s not about Jehoshaphat, folks. The story is about God. And our Lord works only in the heart that is willing to say, I got nothing.

Because at that moment, in that moment alone, are we truly willing to submit ourselves to go? To submit ourselves to follow. And to submit ourselves to the will of our Lord.

Is that you? You’ve been thinking about this for a while, you’re thinking, well, the time’s right, or I got things to know. Now’s that time. Because only when we can truly say we got nothing have we truly opened ourselves up to what the Lord wants to give us, and that is everything in Christ. And if you need to have your sins washed away this morning in his blood, and if you need to put on his glorious robe of salvation, now is that time. Bring him nothing. So he can bless you with everything. If we can help you in any way, in any way, enjoy this victory today. We invite you to come while we stand and safe.