Title: There is Hope for the Future
Date: February 20, 2007
Text: 2 Chronicles 33:1-20
Introduction
- when we enter the mission, we first of all go through an introductory phase where we are taught the basics of the Christian walk
- however, just as we were often told by our parents, you are never going to amount to anything, we often think that we can never become anything good spiritually either
- we think, my sins have been too bad, how could God want me for his purposes
- we remember the people we have stolen from, the people we sold drugs to
- we think about the people we have killed, either wilfully or by accident
- we think about the broken promises and vows, the children who are suffering or whom we cannot see, because of our neglect and abuse
- and because our sin weighs heavily upon us, we think that God could never forgive me, he has a plan for others but our unworthiness causes us to give up before we start
- today we are going to look at two examples of people whom God used, despite their past life
1. Manasseh - King of Judah
- 2 Chronicles 33:1-20
- Manasseh was a preacher's kid - his dad Hezekiah had led the Kingdom of Judah in a revival, and was enormously used by God
- but so often preacher's kids rebel against their parents ways, and do their own thing - they often seem to go way to the other extreme in making a mess of their lives
- Manasseh was like that
- Manasseh got involved in magic and witchcraft, he went to fortune tellers and astrologers, he had a guiding spirit, a demon - v.6
- he thumbed his nose at God and even placed a pagan idol in the temple, the house of God - v.7
- he turned the clock back, to do even worse than the heathen who had been in the land before Israel arrived - v.2, 9
- God sent prophets to Manasseh to warn him and the Israelites, but they would not listen - v.10
- so God sends the armies of the Assyrian empire to capture Manasseh, put him in chains and keep him in prison in Babylon - v. 11
- in chains, in prison with hard labor, Manasseh has a chance to think about the error pof his ways
- he humbled himself, he prayed to God, and received forgiveness
- Jesus had not yet come to die for our sins, but Manasseh received forgiveness looking forwarfd to that sacrifice
- God released Manasseh from prison and reinstated him as king in Judah! Manasseh discovered that God was real!
- in repentance, Manasseh then took away all the idols he had brought into the land and led people to worship the Lord instead
- though this man started bad, very bad, God was able to redeem his life and make him a force for good
2. George Mueller - a man of faith
- 2,600 years later, another reprobate came on the scene
- George Müller was born in Kroppenstaedt, a Prussian village, on the 27th September 1805.
- despite kindness and generosity continually shown by his father, George Müller was an habitual thief, an inveterate liar
- he regularly stole money from his father, invariably when collecting debts on his father's behalf by handing over much less than he had collected. His father often had to make up missing money and on one occasion a successfully laid trap caused George Müller to be punished, but he was unrepentant.
- he was a cheat, devising cunning and devious methods to fulfil his evil desires
- besides his immoral ways it was George Müller's need for alcoholic drink that caused many of his problems. Even when his mother lay dying he was found roaming the streets in a drunken state.
- His stealing became more compulsive and on one occasion he had the audacity to steal most of his confirmation fees which his father had given him for confirmation classes, when he became a confirmed Lutheran
- he went from one hotel to another, often in the company of a woman, living a 'playboy' life, but with no money
- the law caught up with him and he ended up in prison. Even in prison George Müller told the most unbelievable lies to impress a fellow prisoner.
- The last sinful escapade came when he was at Halle University studying theology. With three fellow students they forged papers and documents so that they could go on a vacation of worldly pleasure in Switzerland. George Müller even then managed to cheat his friends by having charge of the money and, through devious means, only paid two thirds of that paid by the others.
- he later said there was almost no sin into which he had not fallen
- George Müller's conversion in November 1825 was dramatic and his whole direction, purpose and way of life changed immediately.
- "He was introduced to the prayer meeting by his friend Beta and upon arrival was greeted with 'Come as often as you please; house and heart are open to you.' This welcome touched George Müller very much. The singing of hymns, study of the Bible and reading of a printed sermon made a deep impression and he felt this night he would find 'something' for which he had been searching all his life. The genuine love, great joy and deep humility in the hearts of the members of that group had a profound effect on George Müller but perhaps the turning point was when they all knelt to pray. He had never seen this before, let alone knelt to pray himself, and the whole meeting breathed such a spiritual atmosphere that he entered upon an entirely new experience! He was born again! No longer an idle and lazy character, but a disciple of the Living God. "
- this was the the turning point for a remarkable man of faith
- his life became dedicated to following the Lord's will
- he finished his seminary education, and moved to Teignmouth in Devon, to preach the gospel
- a fellow preacher asked him to join him in Bristol, England, where he started as the pastor of 6 people - the church grew as God blessed his service and faith
- he set up a foundation called the Scriptural Knowledge Institute
- then a cholera epidemic caused a lot of children to lose their parents, and he and his wife took thirty of these kids into their own home.
- they added another home, and another, till there were 5 homes taking care of 2,000 children
- they never once advertised a need for money or property or food - they consistently prayed to God for him to supply what was needed
- later, they sold the homes and took care of the children in group homes of 10 to 12 children per home, with a married couple as house parents
- when he was 70, he commenced evangelizing and preaching all over the world, covering 200,000 miles in 17 years
- the work he started continues to this day through the Scriptural Knowledge Institute and Dr Barnardo's Homes
- George Mueller passed away at the age of 92, in 1898
3. There is hope for the future
- wherever we have come from, whatever we have done, all is not lost
- Manasseh led his people to put away their witchcraft and idolatry, and was instrumental in turning a nation in relapse, back to God
- George Mueller left a wicked and utterly sinful life, to become a man of faith, through whose testimony many thousands have come to the Lord
- there is hope for the future
- we can come to the foot of the cross and leave our burden of guilt and shame there
- no sin is so bad that it cannot be forgiven
- we may feel like a Manasseh or a George Mueller in their early days
- but God was able to redeem their past and use them for his own purposes
- and he can do the same for you
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