1 Kings Chapter 15
King Asa
Study of the Kings
Split screen two Kingdoms
A) North
B) South
1) Gods blessing on them for the sake of David
C) See that in our text tonight RD v.1-11
Asa becomes the first of a
short list of Good kings in
A) He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord
B) Consider his reforms:
V. 12
12 And he banished the perverted persons
from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
#1He banished the
perverted persons from the land
A) Perverted persons reference to the Canaanite cult
Prostitutes
B) People were having sexual relations w/ these
prostitutes to induce agricultural or person fertility.
#2 He tore down the idols that his
father had set up.
#3 He got rid of his grandmother and the idolatry that
she was leading. V.13
13Also
he removed Maachah his grandmother from being queen mother, because she
had made an obscene image of Asherah. And Asa cut down her obscene image and
burned it by the Brook Kidron
2 Chronicles 14 adds this about Asa 2 Chron 14:2-7
Asa did what was good and right in the
eyes of the LORD his God, 3 for he removed the altars of the foreign gods
and the high places, and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the
wooden images.
He commanded Judah to seek the LORD God
of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment.5 He also removed
the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and the
kingdom was quiet under him.6 And he built fortified cities in Judah, for the
land had rest; he had no war in those years, because the LORD had given him
rest.
So this guy was right on His heart was loyal to the
Lord and God blessed his Kingdom with quietness
A) The Land had rest no
Wars
B) That is a blessed thing Neat time
1) Quiet house
2) Quiet times in Ministry.
3) Great times of just resting in the Lord Enjoying
Jesus
C) Now as we come to v.14 We have what looks like a Discrepancy
14But the high places were
not removed.
D) But we just read in 2 Chron 14 they were
removed what is the deal really simple
1) The context in 2 Chron 14 is the foreign gods and
their high places
E) Therefore Asa removed the high places that were
dedicated to idols, but not the ones that were dedicated to the Lord.
{Thats the answer
V.14 Continues
Nevertheless Asas heart was loyal to the
Lord all his days. 15He
also brought into the house of the Lord
the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which he himself had
dedicated: silver and gold and utensils.
So Asa for the most part was
a King in
A) And God blessed him as a result.
B) 2 Chron 14-15 give us a little more detail into the
reign of Asa so I would like you to turn there
Read v. 8-11
So Asa finds himself in this
place where he is severely outnumbered out powered
A) He does the right thing He cries out to the Lord
He takes it
to the Lord
B) In doing so Asa acknowledges 3 Key principles about
his Peoples relationship to the Lord
#1 Asa recognized the unique ability of
God to give help. God is all powerful: It is nothing for you to help many or few
A) Our Power doesnt mean a thing What matters is
that you are with us!
B) I dont know what went thru Asas mind but I wonder
if he thought back in History of the many ways thru which God delivered his
people
C) God has more ways of delivering people than
McDonald's has hamburgers!
1) For instance, He could use
a thunderstorm and giant hailstones, as he did once with Joshua.
D) He could use the jawbone
of a donkey, as he did with Samson, to overcome a great army of Philistines.
1) He could us torches hidden in jars, as he did
with Gideon, when a great host of Midianites
confronted a little band of three hundred men.
E) He could use the mere
rumor of another invading army, as he did in the case of King Hezekiah.
On that occasion the Syrian
armies under Rabshakeh surrounded
He could use a strange sound
in the tops of the mulberry trees, as happened once with David, when he was
confronted with a Philistines host.
A) The Philistines heard a
strange sound like marching feet, they too thought an army was coming and they
took to their heels and ran.
B) He could use a woman with a tent peg, as he did with Jael, who
killed Sisera, the Syrian general, in the days of Deborah and Barak.
C) There are a thousand and one things God can do to
set us free.
1) He may have us fight the
battle, but he may tell us, as he did with Asa's son, Jehoshaphat, the next
king,
Go on out with your army,
but there is not going to be any battle. I will deliver you without a single
blow being struck."
D) The point of this is that
the very first thing King Asa recognizes is that there is none like God to
help.
1) He is all powerful - God
has a million and one resources to command.
E) Who can tell which one he
might employ?
What matters the most is that you are with God and
therefore God is with you
A) Have you ever felt
like King Asa felt?
B) The NT tells us the reason
these stories are in the OT is that they were "written down for our
instruction
C) They reflect experiences that we are all called to
face at times.
Now it's true that we're not
kings with great armies facing even greater armies, but in the kingdom of our
own lives we often encounter this very thing.
A) So our feelings must be
very much like King Asa's.
B) Have you ever thought you
were secure, with plenty of money in the bank, with good health and a future
that looked bright and rosy, and then suddenly,
1) Wham! Bam! -- disaster
looms?
C) You realize you are
outnumbered, outgunned and outclassed, up against a circumstance too big for
you to handle.
D) Can I encourage you- Get your eyes off of the MT / off of the
Obstacle
1) Off of the problems On to the Lord
E) He is the Deliverer He is the all powerful one
#1 Asa recognized the unique ability of
God to give help.
#2 He recognized what is the action of those who believe
that God is all powerful We rest in you!
A) The degree that you believe in the power of God is
going to be manifested in how you REST IN HIM
B) Priest in the OT no wool only Linen
1) Didnt want them to sweat
They were to be a visible representation of a person resting in the Lord
C) Resting: Relaxed Rejoicing in the Lord
Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!
D) Cant always rejoice in my circumstances but I can
rejoice in the Lord
1) Resting in Him His Power / His Care / His Wisdom
-
E) Is your heart at rest
tonight or are you stressed out Striving
1) Pulling your hair out - How big is your God!
#3 He recognized what it meant
to be connected to the Lord. We go forth in Your Name!
A) Not my name that is on the line not my Reputation
that is at Stake It is Gods
B) When I am representing Him when I am I claiming
to be His son/ daughter
1) His name is on the line!
C) A defeat goes against
His record!
1) That is such an amazing thing to consider so
connected to the Lord
D) My Victory is His Victory ALSO My defeat is His
defeat
E) Indictment against David was you have given a
reason to the Kings around us Stumble
So Asa cries out to the Lord / putting
his trust fully in the Lord
Read v.12-15
So Asa and
A) Many or by few Jonathan and his armor bearer
B) God can work thru one!
RD Ch. 15:1-2
Now the timing of this
exhortation seems a bit odd to many
A) Why does the Lord send the Prophet to warn Asa
after this victory
B) After this great moment of trusting in the Lord
C) Answer: It is in our
times of Victory in our times of Strength we are the most Vulnerable
1) To Him who thinks He stands take heed
D) Well Asa heeded the
words of the Prophet and for 36yrs of his reign He did well - He pleased the
Lord
But in the 36 year of His reign after he had achieved
so much had become very successful something happened - {Where 1 Kings 15 left off rd it here
In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of
Asa, Baasha king of
SO Baasha the king of
A) This would weaken trade as well as
military power of
B) SO what does Asa do? Who do you call?
1) He calls Ben Hadad the King of
RD V.2-6
C) Asa doesnt call on the Lord He calls on this
earthly King Guess what His plan worked
1) It was successful Baasha pulled out
D) This can be one of the biggest traps in ministry
and the Christian life
1) Take matters into our own hands and when we are
successful think Gods approval
E) Often times it had nothing to do with God in fact
quite the opposite {It was all us
When did this happen? After
Asa had achieved Success
A) Early on when confronted by the million man army
He had nothing- Only God
B) Yrs later now he had experience Resources
He was a leader Savvy
C) Guys we need to watch that we dont put our
confidence in the Flesh.
Paul in Phil 3/ Paul is talking about his background
his training His education His status
Phil 3:7-9
7 But what things were gain to me, these
I have counted loss for Christ.8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for
the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have
suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain
Christ
Here is what I find
interesting about this passage:
A) Paul says the things that were gain to me these
things I have counted loss for Christ.
B) Have counted Past
tense something I did earlier
C) V. 8 But I also count [ present
tense ] all things loss Keep
on doing it !
D) Pauls struggle not to
lean on the flesh not to put his confidence in that
1) Counted it loss Keep counting it loss
E) I suffered the loss of those things and I will keep
counting them as rubbish
Why? No confidence in
His Flesh
A) Paul believed and wanted to walk in the reality
Without Christ I can do nothing
B) But with Jesus I can do all things
C) I was challenged by
this today: Outreach meeting
1) What are we going to do How Advertise?
Well this is what we have always done
..
D) But what does God want us to do?
1) Need to cry out to the Lord
I hate being a part of things where Cant see is
this the Lord or is this us?
Think about your life
Problems Challenges How do you handle these things
A) DO you turn to the Lord cry out to the Lord or do
you just handle them
B) Rely on Your Experience / Knowledge / Check book /
Credit card
C) Guys when that is our mode
of operation we run the path of Asa
1) It might even be successful might get applause
But God is not glorified nor is He happy
The mantra today
D) Asas life teaches us that our Faith and reliance
and dependence on the Lord is treasured by God
Notice what happens Rdv.7-9
God sends a prophet to Asa
with a rebuke
A) Interesting the context of v.9 often quoted but
it is in the Context of a King who did the opposite
B) Context of a King whose heart wasnt loyal to the
Lord but instead trusted in himself took matters into His own hands
2 Chron 16:9
9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro
throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose
heart is loyal to Him.
Eyes of the Lord run to and fro thru out all the earth
Remember what Satan said to the Lord in the book of
Job - Where Have you been? Job 1:7
From going to and fro on the earth, and
from walking back and forth on it."
Have you seen my servant
Job?
A) Satan walks or runs to & fro looking for
people to tear down / rip off / pull apart
B) Thief who seeks to kill, rob and destroy
1) He moves as fast as he can to fulfill that mission
C) But the Eyes of the Lord why
the eyes He is Omnipresent Everywhere at once
D) His eyes go out looking for peoples whos hearts
are loyal to Him
1) He wants to show Himself Strong on their behalf
E) Those whose trust is in Him Looking to Him
Dependent on Him
Eyes of the Lord go throughout this
Sanct tonight
What is He going to find?
Wrap up Asa Mad Rd
v.10-12