A)
Recall Asa became king in
B) For 40 yrs the
1) Started with his great grandfather Solomon grandpa Rehoboam dad Abijah
C) 40 Yrs of decline 40
yrs of wickedness in the land
But
when Asa comes to the throne things Change Ch.14 we are told that Asa did what
was good and right in the eyes of the Lord
A) He removed all the
idols, High places, wickedness and charged
the pp to seek God passionately
B) God blessed him with 10 yrs of peace
C) Asa used those 10 yrs to
build up and strengthen the kingdom / Cities Walls / gates / The Army!
D) After those 10 yrs of
peace He faced his first test
Zerah the Ethiopian comes
army of 1 million
1) Asa passes the test
turns to the Lord for Help
E) Great prayer in Ch.14:11
11
And Asa cried out to the LORD his God, and said,
Goes to the
right place
"LORD, it
is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power;
The Lord loves to come to
the aid of the weak
help us, O LORD
our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude.
Going out in all that
represents who you are
O LORD, You are
our God; do not let man prevail against You!"
Your glory is what we are
concerned about
God
Answers the Prayer comes to their aid and gives them victory
A) It is after that
RD V.1-2
Now this is an interesting
thing that Azariah says to ASA,- Recurring theme in
the OT
Duet, 31:16-18
God speaking to Moses before
his death These pp are going to forsake me & I will hide my face from
them
1 Chron 28:9 David
pleading with his Son Solomon his plan and heart
2 Chron 12:5-6
This
is a recurring theme with in the Bible
But
note the timing of it to Asa
A) It comes during a time
when He has been intently seeking God-
B) It comes after a great
victory over the army of 1 million Ethiopians
C) It comes during a time when Asa is doing great
And
God wants Asa to keep doing great so He reminds Asa of this important truth
A) He reminds Asa of where
his strength lies
B) He reminds Asa of the
importance for Asa to keep seeking Him
C) The times when we are
doing well can be some of our most Dangerous times
we turn from God.
1) We become self confident
less dependent
D) SO God gives Asa an
encouraging reminder and warning
Your strength
and success are wrapped up in me!
3
For a long time
Note: He is drawing Asas
attention to the
4 but when in
their trouble they turned to the LORD God of
Notice
the Phrase for a long time That tells me that God counts the moments
when we push him away.
A) His heart breaks - Prodigal Son father saw when he was a long
way off
B) But here is what is
interesting a long time for God can just fly by for us
1) Before we know it we
think how did I get here
So far removed from Him!
7
But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!"
A) Gods 2nd word
here to Asa Be strong
B) Note he is not telling
him to go to 24hr fitness
1) Not telling him to pump
iron
C) Think
positive thoughts No the idea is to find his strength in the Lord
1) Same as us
D) Sometimes we put all this
pressure on ourselves
Be
strong in me Asa and stay the Course
A) Asa keep your eyes on me
and keep doing what you have been doing.
B) Word
for me today! Severe attack
C) The devil is so good at
getting me to focus on my weaknesses
In
the next verse we see what made Asa such a great King and a man of God.
A) This is the Key to our
being great- greatly used
B) What is it Asa responded to the word from the Lord {
didnt just hear it that is nice
1) He took it to heart
responded RD
V.8a
And when Asa
heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage,
C)
He took Courage Here is what this means He fastened upon those words & his heart was strengthened
D) Gods word to you
tonight: Fasten upon his word his promise and be strengthened
Asas
courage was manifested RD V.8b-9
A) Wait I thought he removed
the idols already ?
B) He did they came back
he found some more
1) He went to further out into the MTs the cities he had just
taken
C)
He rebuilt the altar
1) Bring an animal as a
substitute
D) Asa rebuilt the Altar and instituted Sacrifices again
The
pp responded note v.9 PP starting flocking from
A) There was nothing
artificial happening here no appeals to the flesh no gimmicks
B) Mark
of real revival nothing of the flesh involved no gimmicks to attract
pp
1) Simple no huge production
Just a sense that God is there moving
working
C) Seen a lot of Huge
productions that were called revivals really just a
huge production
1) No lasting impact
D) Most revivals very
little production pretty simple but Huge lasting
impact
1) That is what is happening
here the affects were far reaching.
E) PP began to flock to
RD V.10-11
They
rightly recognized that their victory came from God, so they gave back to Him
from the spoil of the victory over the Ethiopians (2 Chronicles 14:12-15).
When
we recognize that what we have comes from God, it is much easier to give to Him
out of what He has given us.
A lack of generosity is often rooted in refusing to
recognize that God is the ultimate provider and every good and perfect gift
comes from Him (James 1:17).
12
Then they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers
with all their heart and with all their soul;
A) This is
awesome God touches their heart with this fresh desire to seek Him
B) Covenant stresses
seriousness
C) People
criticized the Promise keeper movement for perhaps putting too much
emphasis on mans ability to keep promises
D) But you have to applaud the heart that says God I am so serious
about this I want to take an Oath
1) A
Promise Maybe there just needs to also be the confession I need your
HS to see it thru
E) They made a Covenant to
express that they were serious about this -
and
whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel was to be put to death, whether
small or great, whether man or woman.
This was no new law of their own making, God had already laid out in
his law Exodus certain rebellion punishable by Death
Top of the list was idolatry!
So this isnt suggesting they started to kill everyone who
was half hearted but more so those who continued in Idolatry
Now it is
important that we understand however that we cant legislate revival.
A) I am all for laws that encourage morality and kindness, integrity
B) I think it is appalling how many of our laws favor the criminal
rather than the victim
C) But when it comes to Revival
Cant legislate that
1) It has to be a move of Gods spirit
D) So in their Zeal they were getting back to taking this law seriously
especially I think as it relates to those who would continue in idolatry.
Not suggesting we
kill those who dont want to be Christians Islam position
A) But rather I think we need to apply this personally to put to death the areas of our lives that lead us
away from God and toward rebellion
B)
Hand
cut it out
for it is more profitable for you that one of your members
perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
C) Jesus is not advocating that we mutilate our bodies - His Point
take sin in your lives that seriously
D) V.13 Application for us take sin in our lives seriously -
Deal with it rightly
14 Then they
took an oath {Seriousness}before the LORD with a loud voice, with shouting and
trumpets and rams' horns. 15 And all
Great
scene:
A) It is good to get excited
about what God is doing
B) There is a place for loud
voices shouting blowing the trumpet
C)
Good to be passionate! That passion is going to
be measured differently by our personalities
1) God has been showing me
this of late
D) Careful
to not judge Prayer meeting with a group of women WOW!!!
1) Prayer meeting with a
group of men might different Passionate in a different way
E) Or it might not even be
noticed by gender might be by personality
1) Heart
is there
There
is a place for being loud but There is also a place for being still and being
quiet
A) The Key is that we are
seeking God with all our soul and that is what they were doing
B) He was found by
them. Gave them rest
Further reforms RD V.16
Now
this is heavy Asa fires his Mother because she made an obscene image
A) Asherah
was a Canaanite goddess who was worshipped thru all sorts of perverse
sexual practices
B) The image of her was a
carved image that was very seductive meant to entice men
C) Asas mom has one of
these He gets rid of her
The
point? Asa is dealing with sin even in his own family His own house
A) APP Sin in your home
Porn / HBO / Hidden DVD bookmarks on your web browser
B) Those things need to be
addressed - Asa is taking care of
Business here
RD V.17-19
20 more yrs of blessing
RD CH.16:1-3
So in the 36th
year Baasha
Asa
makes a critical error takes matters into his own hands
A) The Lords treasuries were built up thru the pps
giving and from the spoil from
Aa) Asa looked at that pile
of money and saw a solution we dont need to pray about this
B) We will buy our way out
of this problem Hire
C)
1) We can be guilty of this
Problem I will just write a Check
D) Problem Dont pray I will just get a loan
The
Problem that we see here with Asa is Asa doesnt rely on God He relies on money
A) But here is the thing
that I want you to note is that Asas plan worked RD V.4-6
B) This tells us something
it tells us that men can take matters into their own hands & accomplish
results
C) But those results are not
a part of Gods plan
D) Might be results but no
eternal reward
Interesting
if this was today: Asa would be up for a promotion in
A) Nominated for executive
of the year He saw a problem he saw a solution he acted got results
B) But it wasnt Gods
results RD
V.7-8
C)
Remember
1) My plan wasnt just to
give you victory over
D) But now that wasnt going
to happen infact the Syrians would inflict
Now
this is what is interesting: This is the context for v.9 famous verse
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. In this you have done
foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars."
God was telling Asa this
is my heart Asa all these scenarios in your life
are an opportunity for me to show myself strong on your behalf
Gives
us a glimpse into the heart of God God is
constantly looking for those opportunities in our lives to show His strength
What
are you up against? His heart is toward you.
Requirement
He is looking for hearts that are Loyal or fully His !
A) Context here is hearts
that are trusting in Him and nothing else
B) No back up plan! No
plan B well if God doesnt come thru then I will
..
C) God is saying this is
what I wanted to do for you Asa but because you didnt trust in me from now
on you will have wars
D) 35
yrs of peace Only one quick battle But now there would be turmoil
Notice Asas
response V.10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and
put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed
some of the people at that time.
A) When our hearts are not
humble when our hearts are not right with the Lord We abuse pp
B) Whenever
I see someone abusing others I know one of two things is happening
or both
1) They are not in a right
place with God {David
2) They are often full of
pride their false summation of themselves makes them come down on others
Well at this point the
life of this great man is over his story abruptly ends at this point