Our text for this morning is framed in the words of verse 12 of Second Chronicles 33, verse 12. I want to read that again at this time. And when he, Manasseh then, when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God. and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. Let me read it again. And when Manasseh was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. Thus far, the reading of God's holy word. May he add his blessing to the hearing, the reading, and the preaching of his word again this morning. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ gathered here with me in Jordan this morning If it is your practice, as it should be, but if it is your practice to read through the Bible from beginning to end, you will have noticed that the narratives given in the book of Kings are often repeated in the book of Chronicles. We saw that, for instance, this morning. We read two very similar accounts, one in Kings, the other from Chronicles, both about Manasseh, king of Judah, son of Hezekiah. And if you've ever wondered about the similarity and the differences between 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles, perhaps it's helpful for you to know that the word chronicles in the Greek can be translated as an account of the things that were omitted. And that's what we have this morning. We read of the same narrative both in 2 Kings and in 2 Chronicles, but Chronicles gives us the things that were omitted in 2 Kings. Follow with me. We read this morning of the history of Manasseh. Manasseh was the son of Hezekiah, and he reigned in Judah for 45 years or 55 years, about 700 years before Jesus came into the world. And his reign was the longest of any of the kings of Judah. But unlike his father before him, Manasseh, in his early years as king, led Judah into a variety of idolatrous practices. And that information is given us in both 2 Kings 21 and in the parallel narrative of 2 Chronicles 33. In other words, in his younger years, he was not a godly man. Not only was he apostate spiritually, but he also killed many innocent people in Jerusalem, apparently including prophets who were sent by the Lord to forecast disaster for Judah because of Manasseh's idolatry. And we have no certainty, but it's even possible that Isaiah was among his victims. And the portrayal of Manasseh's reign in 2 Kings is unvaryingly negative, and Judah's ultimate destruction is repeatedly blamed on Manasseh. The version presented in 2 Chronicles, however, although still very critical of him, does not attach the blame specifically to him. But what we want to look at in particular this morning is that the turning of this wicked man. And that's why we read both accounts. You see, although the Book of Kings gives us his terrible apostasy, it does not give us Manasseh's repentance in return as Chronicles does. Manasseh's ungodliness is given us in Kings, and although Chronicles doesn't deny his apostasy, What Chronicles also gives us is what was omitted in the Book of the Kings, and that's the fact that in time Manasseh returned to the Lord and was saved. Manasseh's complete history then is that although he was born of godly, pious parents, Although he was raised in a God-fearing home, although he was taught and knew of the way and will of the Lord, he refused to bow before the Lord in hardness of heart. He turned his back upon the Lord's gracious promises, and because of his unfaithfulness, the Lord brought calamity upon him and on his nation. He was taken and changed to Babylon, but while he was there, he turned to the Lord. And when he did, the Lord restored him to his kingdom. And upon his return to Jerusalem, Manasseh put an end to the nation's idolatry as evidence of his repentance. And his history then closes with, and he rested with his fathers, which in this context can be translated to say he died in the Lord. My dear people of God, what tremendous comfort is given here to parents who mourn over their prodigal sons and daughters. We read here of a young man raised in a pious, godly home. He was the son of Hezekiah, who was given us in scripture as one of the three most perfect kings of Judah. But his son, his flesh and blood strayed from the path of righteousness, and his father's heart was broken. But the Lord did not leave. his child alone. In time, in God's time, and in God's way, the Lord interrupted Manasseh on his road to destruction, and the Lord drew him unto himself. And now Manasseh could say with the psalmist, praise be to God. I will not die, but I will proclaim what the Lord has done. The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Psalm 118. And now our text of this morning speaks of these things. And I want to administer God's word to you, using as my theme, a man ripe for repentance. A man ripe for repentance. We want to see a man who sinned against God. We want to see the man who experienced the judgments of God. And finally, we want to see a man who was led to repentance as a result of the judgments of God. So a man ripe for repentance. who sinned against God, who experienced the judgments of God, and was led to repentance as a result of the judgments of God. People of God, Manasseh was a polytheist, meaning thereby that he worshipped many gods. And by his worship of false gods, he, of course, sinned against the one true God. Oh, he worshipped, or at least he pretended to worship the one true God, but he also worshipped other gods. That was the source of his sin, for God insists that we worship Him and Him alone. Things haven't changed much, have they? Here we are about 30 centuries later, and men and women are still following the pattern of Manasseh, still today. All of those outside of the Church, and tragically, oftentimes, many within the Church, worship other gods. Still today, there are so many, even among church members, who profess to worship the God whom Christ revealed, but who still have their idols. Oh, they haven't got idols made of stone or sticks, no. Their idols are much more subtle. Some worship money, or some are like those whom Paul said their God is their belly. There are those who worship at the shrine of fashion or entertainment and pleasure. For some, their god is alcohol or drugs or illicit sexual gratification. But my dear people of God, when a person is ruled by any of these things, he's not a biblical theist, but he is a polytheist, as Manasseh was. He may profess to worship the one true God, but he also has his other gods, and his life is ruled not by the Lord, but by these other gods. And as Jesus said, no man can serve two masters. And so we need to understand that although the idols of today may be far different from the idols of Manasseh, they're no less offensive to our Lord. Modern idols are surely a stench in the nostrils of God, and an abomination in the sight of the Lord, as were the Molech or the Baal gods worshipped in Old Testament times. And so Manasseh sinned against God. And he did so over a period of many years. And perhaps he thought he could sin against God and get away with it. He was raised in a godly home, and so he would have known better. But perhaps he thought he could flaunt God's commandments without paying the price. But it is forever true that one will reap what one sows. God always, God always brings the sinner to judgment. And my dear people, God, that is still true today. God will deal with your sin. And when God fails to bring judgment to bear immediately upon sin in our lives, It is only because he is a long-suffering and a patient God, wanting that all men should come to repentance. But although he is indeed long-suffering and patient, his patience is not without limits. And in the case of Manasseh, the long-suffering of God came to an end one day. In the case of Manasseh, God finally withdrew his protective care. Manasseh had forgotten that his nation could exist only as long as God's protective arms were stretched around it. And in his sin, we may be assured that this powerful man was also a very proud man. And perhaps his pride blinded him to the fact that he could not sit upon the throne in Judah, that he could sit upon that throne in Judah only as long as God upheld him. But he learned those facts through bitter experience when God withdrew his providential care. You know the story. We read it this morning. God permitted the armies of the enemy to sweep down upon him and Manasseh, and many of his people were led away into captivity. And my dear people, we need to understand this, for what God does here is not consistent with what most people, even some Christian people, think of him. You see, God actually intentionally brings great hardship upon his own people and their king. God actually empowers the unbelieving world to conquer the church. Imagine that. Sounds incredible to us, doesn't it? Imagine that for a moment. That seems inconceivable to us. God is a God of love, is he not? Of course he is. The Bible is replete with that information. But we need to understand that sometimes discipline is the most loving thing that can be done for a person. When parents truly love their children, they don't hesitate to discipline them. In a church that loves her sheep exercises discipline when they stray. And because God loves his people, he disciplines them, he chastises them, collectively as a church and individually as people. And that's what we see here. In love, God gives his chosen nation. In love, God gives his own people along with their king into the hands of the hated pagan Assyrians. And what indignities were heaped upon Manasseh and his people are not detailed in this record, but it was common practice to place a ring through the nose or the lips of the prisoners and to lead them about as if they were animals. The captives could expect only inhumanity and brutality But paramount for us to understand here is that God used a foreign nation, God used an ungodly nation to bring his judgment to bear upon Manasseh. My dear people of God, we need to be careful that we don't miss the point here. If we were to ask at this point, if we were to ask why did God bring this terrible judgment into the life of Manasseh, If you were to answer to punish Manasseh for his sin, you would be right, but only partially so. God did indeed take Manasseh to task for his sin and his sinful life, but God had a far greater purpose in visiting Manasseh with captivity and torture. You see, it was the purpose of God. It was the purpose of God to make Manasseh repent. God had called Manasseh and his people to repentance over and over and over again. But they would not listen. And now God brought a frightening experience into their lives in order to bring them back unto himself. You see, God did not abandon his people. No, they failed miserably in their required obedience. Manasseh especially had very pious parents. but he had turned aside from their wisdom. And Manasseh and his nation had the law and the prophets. God had repeatedly sent prophets to warn them, but they stopped up their ears and they closed up their eyes. And after they repeatedly failed to listen to God speaking through the voice of parents and prophets, God now spoke to them through calamity. Being overrun and taken captive by the enemy was simply another means of speaking to them. It was another way of God. calling them to repentance. God's terrible judgment upon Manasseh did not mean that God was through with him, that God had cut him off, or that God was abandoning him, or that God would leave him to eternal punishment. No, it meant precisely the opposite. God loved Manasseh. God loved Manasseh. He loved Manasseh enough to punish him and thereby to drive him to repentance for his sin. People, God, remember with me now that Manasseh was a member of the Old Testament church. Despite all of his sin, he was a member of the visible institutional church. But more than that, precisely because God worked this terrible judgment upon Manasseh, because of God's treatment of him, and because of the testimony we have concerning him after his captivity, it would be safe for us to conclude that Manasseh was a part of the body of true believers which is known only to God. In other words, Precisely because of the judgment of God, we may believe that he was numbered among the saints of God from all eternity. God had Manasseh's name engraved upon the palm of his hand, and therefore the Lord God would not, could not let him go. Had it not been so, God might well have allowed him to go on in his sin until there was nothing left but eternal condemnation and punishment. But, but, but, God loved him, and God loved him enough to call him back out of his sin. So what are we to learn from all of this? It's an interesting story, but what would be the reason that the Holy Spirit would include this narrative twice in Scripture? Well, a number of lessons need to be learned here by us. First of all, we learn that God, it is God and not man who is the author of repentance. Oftentimes after a bad experience, we will hear someone say, boy, boy, I sure learned my lesson. How much better to say, boy, God sure taught me a lesson. Repentance is impossible apart from the working of God. Without the Spirit of God, repentance is impossible. You remember Saul of Tarsus? He was not seeking Christ on the Damascus Road. No, Christ was seeking Saul. If God is the author and the finisher of our faith, then he must also be the author of our repentance when we sin, and therefore we must Thank God whenever there is within us the desire to repent of our sin. We need to remember to give God all the glory when we're sorry for our sin, for it is his work in us. That much, first of all. Second, we learn here that God demands repentance for sin. God loved Manasseh. God did not stop loving him for one moment. He chastened Manasseh. precisely because he loved him. If there had been any other way, God would not have brought this terrible judgment upon Manasseh. But apparently there was no other way. Manasseh had sinned. Manasseh must repent or be eternally lost. And God determined Manasseh to be saved. He had determined that already in eternity. And therefore, God worked judgment upon Manasseh. And when we sin, therefore, we also must repent. Third, because sin must be followed by repentance, God leads his children to repent. Sometimes this leading is gentle and persuasive, as when the Holy Spirit speaks softly in the human heart and says, this is the way, follow me. But sometimes this leading must be harsh and bitter When we refuse to be led by gentler methods, God then adopts methods which are harsh. And my dear precious saints of God, if you have come to learn that biblical principle, then you've also learned to pray daily. Oh, Lord. O Lord, grant to me the necessary grace to follow thy leading, lest it should be necessary to crush me in order to mold me and to make me after thy will. God does not always lead men and women into captivity and slavery. Sometimes he uses other painful methods, but whatever the method, God will lead his children to repentance. People of God, the entire episode from the life of Manasseh stands as a solemn warning to every child of God. If you are a child of God, if you know yourself to be a child of God, then God loves you. That is certain. And if you are a child of God, he will not let you go. That, too, is certain and encouraging. But at the same time, If you are a child of God, because you are a child of God, you must know that God may find it necessary to bring harsh judgments into your life. If you will persist in sinning against his will, if you want to persist in kicking against the thorns and you will learn your lesson in no other way, then God will use whatever means necessary to bring you to your knees in repentance even if it means causing disaster to fall upon your life. But there's still more here. Beyond these lessons, there's also a lesson concerning the nature of repentance. You see, when God works repentance, it is a true repentance. And using the example of Manasseh, we see it consists of three steps or stages, if you will. First, we read that he besought or sought the Lord. That's what we read in verse 12 of our text. Some other translations say that when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord. In one of the sources, I consult to define the word implored as it is used in this context as to plead with someone to do something, to plead with someone to do something precisely Manasseh, upon his conversion, he sought the Lord and implored him, or if you will, he begged God to do something. He begged God to do what? He begged God to forgive him his sin. Oh, how differently he acted from so very many men and women, even sometimes Christian men and women today. What Manasseh did here was the exact opposite of many men who, having illness or tragedy or death in their homes, Manasseh experienced great tragedy in his life. And the first thing he sensed was a need for the Lord. And so we read, he went to God. He sought the Lord. How differently for so many people. If I may use a little illustration here, forgive me, but a child, a child, especially a young child, When he knows himself to be in trouble, he wants the comfort of his father's loving arms around him. In the safety of those arms, in the safety of his father's embrace, the child knows he is safe. And whatever it was that was troubling him, he knows it will be made well by his father. He knows that, and he believes that. And the same is true for Christians. The Christian knows himself to be a child of God. He knows God to be his father in Jesus Christ. And when God's children know themselves to be in need of forgiveness, they fall on their knees. And although it is forever true that they can pray to God at home or wherever they are, and God will answer, but even more so, the child of God wants to be in the house of the Lord, for he knows that to be the place of God's own presence. In such times when God by his Spirit has worked in us a contrite heart, a broken heart, a contrite spirit, when God convicts us of our sin, when God moves us to repentance, That is precisely the time that we should come into the house of God more firmly and more often. Oh, what a blessed experience it is for us when in brokenness of heart, we can receive comfort from the word of God, in particular, as that word is preached in the house of God. My dear precious people of God, think with me for just a moment of your own confession of faith. In Lord's Day 31, we are taught that it is primarily through the preaching of the Word of God that heaven's gates are opened wide or closed to us. When we respond to the Word of God in faith, repentance, and obedience, then God opens the gates of heaven wide to receive you. Well, then knowing that, when we know ourselves burdened with sin, then in those times, We are so vulnerable and in more need than at any other time in our lives. When in such times of great need, when we then remove ourselves, when we absent ourselves from the house of God, when we remove ourselves from the worship services, we remove ourselves from the very presence of God. Think about that and remember it the next time you make a conscious decision to skip a church service. Oh, finally Manasseh had understood, and finally Manasseh sought the Lord. When calamity struck, we read, he implored the Lord. As an older, perhaps better translation said, he besought the Lord. He sought the Lord. And my dear people of God, we can certainly pray to God at home, but he has promised to grace us with his presence when under the discipline of his word in the Sunday worship service. And that's where we need to seek and find him. Secondly, according to the text, Manasseh humbled himself greatly. That, too, is a very different procedure than many follow. How few there are who, like the publican of old, dared not lift his eyes to heaven, but beating upon his breast, cried out, O God, Be merciful to me, O God, mea culpa. I am guilty. O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Oh, how hard it is for us to humble ourselves before the Lord and to make confession of our sin. The common approach to sin is for the Christian to mumble the words and forgive us our sins. Amen. I have heard many, many men and women pray, seemingly endless prayers without a single reference to sin or a confession or repentance. And if they do remember it, then it's almost as an afterthought, quickly concluding their prayer with the words, forgive us our sin, amen. People go, that is not repentance at all. It seems to say that the forgiveness of sin is just a little thing, a slight thing, likely to be asked. and likely to be accomplished. But the forgiveness of sin is not a little thing to God. It cost him his only begotten son. And so then when Manasseh repented, he sought the Lord. And he humbled himself before God. And then finally we read, he prayed. He prayed. He prayed. The evidence of true repentance then is to seek God. to greatly humble ourselves through that medium of prayer. This speaks of the eternal consequence of prayer. My dear precious people of God, capture this with me. The concept, I believe, is so important. Too many people think only of the temporal consequences of prayer. What I mean is people are ill. They pray for health. They have heartaches. They pray for release from that burden. They lose their job. They pray for new employment. They fear encroaching death, and they pray for life. But the great power in prayer is not in what it will accomplish in time, but what it will accomplish in eternity. The great power of prayer, my people of God, is it lies in what is accomplished when a soul is forgiven and reconciled to God. But now, finally, my people of God capture also with me the results of Manasseh's repentance. First of all, God heard and received him. When Manasseh cried unto God, God heard and answered him. It had been God who brought these judgments upon him. And so he would call upon the name of the Lord. And when he did, God was waiting for him to receive him. It's hard not to think here in this context of the prodigal son. Did we not see the father there with his arms wide open waiting to receive his son again and so to hear from Manasseh? The Lord heard Manasseh's cry and he removed his burden. That is to say, Manasseh was released from his captivity. He was restored to his kingdom. And when the purposes of God were accomplished, there was no longer any reason to continue the affliction of Manasseh. The purpose of the captivity, the purpose of the captivity was to make Manasseh ripe for repentance. And so when the captivity caused Manasseh to repent and the purposes of God were accomplished, God removed the affliction. Bot, bot, bot. Best was yet to come. We read, then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. In other words, Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. In other words, Manasseh ceased to be a polytheist. Manasseh ceased to worship false idols. Manasseh now finally gave God his proper and unique place of power and glory. The false gods were abandoned and the one true God of all glory was embraced. Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. He now gave to God his proper place of sovereign glory and majesty. My dear people of God, we would be inclined to end this story with and they all lived happily ever after. Manasseh was now a proper servant of God, and in turn, the Lord had restored Manasseh to the throne of Judah. And that's how all good stories are supposed to end, and they all lived happily ever after. Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story. Well, Manasseh, he did. He lived happily ever after in glory. As far as the record indicates, Manasseh remained true to God for as long as he lived, and God permitted Manasseh to remain upon the throne of Judah for the rest of his life. And so one may say, one might say, it appears that they all did live happily ever after. And if this story ended with the death of Manasseh, that would be a correct conclusion. But the story does not end with his death. Oh, no. After the death of Manasseh, his son, Amon, ascended to the throne of Judah. But his record starts off the same as his father's. We read, he sinned as his father had before him. But with this important difference, the record states that he did not humble himself and repent of his sin as his father had. but that he sinned more and more. He reigned in Judah only two years, serving false gods and idols until he was killed in a conspiracy against him. Here, then, is the end of the story, and a sobering end it is. It holds a last lesson for those who would learn it, and it is this. God will surely forgive the sins of the truly penitent. But at the same time, the consequences of sin are never fully wiped out. And one of the saddest facts concerning sin is that the consequences are often found in the lives of the sinner's children. That's what we see here. Long after Manasseh had gone to glory and had disappeared from the scene, the consequences of his sin lived on in the life of his son. What a heart-searching lesson for parents. You may sin, And if by the grace of God you are led to repentance, you will certainly be forgiven and you will taste of God's mercy and eternal glory. But the consequences of your sin may well live on in the lives of your children or even your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren. I believe this to be a truth which is neither preached upon nor emphasized enough. Though sin may be forgiven, The consequences often live on. My dear precious, precious people of God, what a heart-searching lesson for us here as parents. When our children stray and wander from the Lord, could it be that they have learned that behavior from our example? Could it be that in the time when our children were most vulnerable, when our children were in their formative years, could it be that we ourselves were careless in our commitment to God and we were insufficiently cognizant of the consequences that might have upon the sons and daughters that follow us? When our children abandoned the church, Could it be because of our own lukewarmness towards the church and the things of the kingdom? Or could it be that our children abandoned the church because of our constant critical attitude towards the church? Parents, how have you lived before God during the time that your children looked to you as role models? How was your commitment to God? Your commitment and your love for the church and the kingdom. How was that demonstrated to your children? Could they see in you? Could they see in you that for you, God was the only God? Oh, you may have sent them to catechism and Christian school and all the rest, but what did your children see in you concerning your own relationship to Christ? Could they see, did they see in you that Christ was precious to you? Did your children see Christ in the way you related to your wife or to your husband, for instance? In the raising of your children, did they see in you the love of Christ? And when you disciplined them, did they understand that you did so because you wanted to rescue their very souls from eternal hell? My dear precious people of God, how many parents have not cried themselves to sleep on their many occasions, wishing they could have another chance to raise their children? If you have failed your children spiritually, and if you have sincerely repented of that, then by the grace of God, God gives me the liberty to say to you, to assure you, your sins are forgiven you. Also, that sin and your failure towards your children, but know also that the consequence of your sin may live on in them, perhaps to the third and the fourth generation. My dear parents, I think it fair and honest to say that for many pastors, the greatest disappointment, the greatest burden and disappointment of their ministry is to see parents who simply assume that their children will turn out okay. without hard work, without true humility, and without fervent, ardent, unceasing prayers on the part of mom and dad for their kids? How often do we not see parents closing their eyes to the sins of their children, confidently claiming it's only a phase? Parents and also grandparents We need to lead by example. We need to know that raising children in the fear of the Lord requires hard work, very hard work. And above all, we should be much on our knees, not only to seek forgiveness for sins of the past, but to plead with God that the consequence of our sin would not live on in the lives of our children, not only in time, but for all eternity. But the opposite is also true. When we as parents honor our covenant obligations towards our children, then we may trust God to also honor his covenant promise to us and to our children. We have seen that truth confirmed again this morning in our text. May God use the preached word again this morning to bring us to our knees in repentance, and may we then feel his everlasting arms embracing us as he whispers in our souls, my son, my daughter, my child, your sins are forgiven you. May that be the blessed experience of us all and our children. Shall we pray? Father, we sang our prayer together, that children hear the mighty deeds which God performed of old, which in our younger years we saw and which our fathers told. He bids us make his glories known, the works of power and grace, that we convey his wonders down through every rising race. Our lips shall tell them to our sons and they again to theirs. and generations yet unborn must teach them to their heirs. Thus shall they learn, in God alone their hope securely stands, that they may not forget his works, but honor his commands. Amen.