Intro:
Chronicles written – remnant – coming back
A) Written to highlight what
happens when God’s pp trust him and follow him { Blessed
B) What happens when they
don’t – not blessed at all
C) We left off having looked
at King Joash – who came to the throne when he was 7yrs old
D) Reigned under the Tutelage of a godly priest by the name of Jehoiada
1) While Jehoiada was alive
– Joash did great walked with God
E) God kept Jehoiada alive
130yrs for his influence
But
when Jehoiada died – Joash quit seeking God
A) Really a sad example of
how some pp don’t have a faith of their own – Parents / Spouse
B) After the death of Jehoiada
Joash turned to idolatry and was confronted by Jehoiada’s son
C) The King and his cohorts
rejected Zechariah’s rebuke – and stoned him to death
D) Joash ends up being assonated
and his son Amaziah comes to the throne – Ch.25
2 Chron 25:1-2
Amaziah
was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years
in
That last phrase is
interesting – not with a loyal heart = a whole heart
A) God is so conscious of
the heart –
B) It is not the outward
actions that he notices the most –
1) They are important but
only if the heart matches
C) Jesus said of the
religious leaders: “These pp honor me with the mouths …heart is far from me.”
Amaziah
did some right things – He made some right professions – But his heart was
lacking – see how that plays out in the story.
3 Now it
happened, as soon as the kingdom was established for him, that he executed his
servants who had murdered his father the king. 4 However he did not execute
their children, but did as it is written in the Law in the Book of Moses, where
the LORD commanded, saying,"The fathers shall not be put to death for
their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers; but a
person shall die for his own sin."
Here
we see he allows for some time to get established – then he deals with his
fathers killers
A) It was the custom of that time to not only kill the killers, but
also the children of the killers.
B) But Amaziah let the children of the killers go.
1) This was in accordance to
the Law of Moses
(Deut. 24:16)
C) So here we see Amaziah doing that which was right - Amaziah went against the
flow of the culture to honor God.
D) Note: This is the heart and mind of God....... Every man pays for his own sin.
This goes against
the flow of what the world and much of what the Church teaches today.....
A) We live in
a day when it is VOGUE for people to blame their parents for their troubles.
B) That is:
“The reason that I am messed up is
because my parents were messed up so I need inner healing.”
C) NOTE: The Lord declares that every man shall pay for his own sin.
D) It is UNBIBLICAL and
ILLOGICAL that we should blame our parents for our problems.
1) Parents have an influence – but we all make our own choices!
V.5
Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together and set over them captains of
thousands and captains of hundreds, according to their fathers' houses,
throughout all Judah and Benjamin;
He shows wisdom here –
arranges the army according to the heads of the families –
Fighting side by side with
your brethren brings about a cohesiveness.
and he numbered
them from twenty years old and above, and found them to be three hundred
thousand choice men, able to go to war, who could handle spear and shield.
So He numbers the troops =
300,000 men
Now
here is where we see his lack of a loyal heart
A) It seems that Amaziah was
not satisfied with that number – but instead of trusting God
B) He takes matters into his
own hands v.6 hire 100,000 mighty men of valor from
1)100 talents of silver 3 ¾
tons of silver
C) Problem:
So
He is hiring these men who were far from God – mercenaries –
A) Entering into an
unequally yoked relationship here – He is going to pay.
B)
Always the case: You link yourself to an unbeliever and you will pay – always
C) Now 100 talents of silver
was not a lot to split between 100,000 men – They banked on the spoil
1) That is why these men
were there – only reason
D) So here we see Amaziah
doing what a lot of Christians do – taking matters
into his own hands
1) With the pp who killed
his dad he followed the word
E) But in this situation he
followed or did what he thought was right –
1) Compartmentalize
their faith - Home/vs work
Church relationships vs business
relationships
God’s
intervention: V. 7
7 But a man of
God came to him, saying, "O king, do not let the army of Israel go with
you, for the LORD is not with Israel — not with any of the children of Ephraim.
8 But if you go, be gone! Be strong in battle! Even so, God shall make you fall
before the enemy; for God has power to help and to overthrow."
God has power to help and to
overthrow – what a great thing to remember!
Which
side of God’s hand do you want to be on!
A) Amaziah had two choices:
Get rid of the mercenaries and trust God { His Help
B)
Or trust in the mercenaries and die!
C) So the man of God warns
him not to do this:
9
Then Amaziah said to the man of God, "But what shall we do about the
hundred talents which I have given to the troops of
A) IS this a typical guy or
what? – “What about the money I gave them?”
B) I love the prophets
response:V.9b And
the man of God answered,"The LORD is able to give you much more than
this."
C) Our leadership recently
made a tough decision that we believe God is going to honor.
3Yrs
ago – When we were considering trying to purchase the land on
A) Those in the city that
were in opposition – not a good place for a Church – CUP – City counsel
B) Seller
/ Builder – who didn’t want to enter into a long process – if it
couldn’t be granted CUP
1) They wanted guarantees –
Bank – who wouldn’t give us a loan unless – assured CUP
C) So
we went to the city counsel – see would they support the Church moving
there.
1) During those initial
conversations – the topic came up about – a trade
– That CUP / for this one
D)
Put this property back into the tax base – and since this is in the city’s
redevelopment zone
1) They will actually get a
hire percentage of the property tax revenue on this property
E) So 3 yrs ago – we
expressed a willingness to work with the city in turn for our CUP on
1) We said we would remain
open to that idea
Now
at the time 3yrs ago – according to our projections – the difference in value –
Church vs commercial was only about 500k
A) Now over the yrs – it
seems that value has changed up as a Church – great demand – CUP in place
B) Great interest – Not so
much as a commercial
The gap could
be more like 1million
What
do we do? Although 3 yrs ago – expressed a willingness – to work with the city
A) The scenario had changed
– bigger potential loss
B) Leadership met prayed –
fasted – We need to honor or word
1) Even though legally we could
fight them on this – legally what asking not right
C) We felt that our
integrity was more valuable than whatever we were forfeiting monetarily
1)) Trust the Lord to meet
the need financially – the Lord is able to give
more.
Now
Amaziah is in this mess because he didn’t trust God in the first place –
Own Hands
A) And that can happen you a
Christian – you make a decision – ignore the voice of the HS
B) Realize later – mistake –
but now you are committed – you have invested –
1) What do you do
C) Sometimes the best thing
and only thing that you can do is cut your losses and run
1) Trust God
D) Amaziah had two choices –
lose your silver or lose your life
E) Amaziah listens: Rd v.10-11
The area around MT Seir –
Edomites was extremely wealthy – area of
12 Also the
children of
Gross / cruel
13
But as for the soldiers of the army which Amaziah had discharged, so that they
would not go with him to battle, they raided the cities of Judah from Samaria
to Beth Horon, killed three thousand in them, and took much spoil.
A) So while Amaziah and the
army is out raiding the Edomites – the mercenaries who felt they were cheated
out of the spoil decide to take it from
B) High Price to pay for
compromise – Always fall out
C) Now what happens next
seems unfathomable
RD V14
Now
when
A) He placed them in the
temple of his god to proclaim our god is stronger – defeated the god of
B) Amaziah does the
opposite: Edomites were polytheistic – many gods
C) After this victory that
Yahweh no doubt gave
1) Amaziah takes the gods of
the Edomites home with him – sets them up to be worshipped his gods
D) Not logical – doesn’t
make sense!
RD
V.15
What
are you thinking – Not only is this wrong in God’s eyes – but logically it
doesn’t make sense
A) Here is where we see
Amaziah’s pride and rebellious heart
16 So it was,
as he talked with him, that the king said to him, "Have we made you the
king's counselor? Cease! Why should you be killed?"
Then the
prophet ceased, and said, "I know that God has determined to destroy you,
because you have done this and have not heeded my advice."
16
But the king interrupted him and said, "Since when have I asked your
advice? Be quiet now before I have you killed!"
So
the prophet left with this warning: "I know that God has determined to
destroy you because you have done this and have not accepted my counsel." NLT
RD V.17-
Pride has filled Amaziah’s
heart – He thinks – I took on
Rejects the Prophets godly
rebuke and listens to some ungodly advice
Some
pp are just bent on doing what they want to do
A) They don’t heed godly
counsel – they have their own favorite scriptures “ He who is without sin can
throw the first stone.”
B) They usually also have
their own counselors – pp who will tell them what they want to hear
C) Don’t listen to those
Pastors down at the Church – they are too legalistic – too narrow –
D) Well the King of
18
And Joash king of
He gives him a parable that
should have been easy for him to understand – Amaziah you are like a thistle –
a weed – and I am a Cedar
Cedars of Lebanon Majestic –
200ft tall 2000yrs old
So this is like a weed
saying to the Cedar let my son marry your daughter - - that is how ridiculous your request is.
and a wild
beast that was in
You
really want to go in this direction – You are going to get stepped on.
A) Then Joash wisely hits on
what was motivating this request -
19 Indeed you
say that you have defeated the Edomites, and your heart is lifted up to boast.
B) You have had a little
victory and now you think that you have it all together now
C) The heart of Amaziah was
lifted up with
Pride. Hadn’t he defeated the Edomites?
1)
Hadn’t he captured the mighty rock city of
God’s
Hate list
A) Interesting – how we
would judge sins – God judges them in a different way.
B) Proverbs 7:17- God hates
a proud look
“Pride is an
exaggerated and distorted self evaluation of oneself! Pride seeks value and
honor and reputation it doesn’t deserve.”
“Pride is an
ego motivated maneuver to hide from myself the things I don’t like about
myself.”
C) People do crazy things
for Pride – Sports A Rod 30 Million – does he need it – no – highest paid
Joash
tries to set Amaziah straight – you are just a weed -
V.19b Stay at
home now; why should you meddle with trouble, that you should fall — you and
Judah with you?"
E) KJV Why should you meddle to your own hurt?
The tragedy of Amaziah is something that is being played out in our
time, day after day, as people are meddling in areas
that can only ultimately bring them deep hurt.
There are some
here tonight who are guilty of playing with fire.... Guilty of meddling.
A) You are at work: Another woman showing you some attention –
Flattered by it
B) Think innocent – a little lunch – You don’t need to worry about me –
I am prayed up – strong
1) HS says great – One less person to worry about
C) You may have the feeling that you’re in control, that you’re on top
of it, that you can handle it.
D) The Bible
talks about the deceitfulness of sin – that it takes our life by increments –
little by little
1)) But you are walking on ice and in due time you WILL slip and fall
We are
desensitized to the conviction of the HS
You are meddling to your own hurt
EXAMPLE:
A)) Single: You have gotten
romantically involved with an unbeliever. You feel that your love is greater
than your differences... that your love will conquer all...
C) That in due time you will
lead that person to the Lord. The Scripture that COMMANDS you to not be unequally yoked doesn’t really apply to
YOU.
D) After all, you can handle it. That passage is just for the weak.
NOTE: You are meddling to your own hurt
EXAMPLE: There are some here that are meddling
with drugs or alcohol.
You say: “This is nothing
serious. I can stop any time I
want.”
NOTE: You
are meddling
with something that can hurt
you deeply.
EXAMPLE: Some of you singles have begun to meddle
with sex.
You thought that you were
strong enough to be alone in
the late hours of the night
without getting physically
intimate. NOTE: You are meddling
to your own hurt
As we close out
this Chapter tonight – consider
THE RESULTS OF
MEDDLING RD V.20-22
1.) Defeat and Disgrace For The Nation
Whenever I meddle I am going to be defeated
by the enemy.
Just talk to one of the
members of our Pastoral staff – countless pp that people have experienced GREAT DEFEAT by
the devil because they meddled in places that they had no business being.
Whenever I find myself meddling I find that the Name of God
is disgraced.
Amaziah was ONE man who was
overconfident and meddled where he did not belong and the WHOLE nation was put to the worse.... routed.
2.) Decreased Defenses
23 Then Joash the king of Israel captured
Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth Shemesh;
and he brought him to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the
Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate — four hundred cubits.
One man’s meddling decreased their defenses. The walls that protected
When you meddle in an area where you do not belong and fall
into sin your defenses get torn down and you become vulnerable.
NOTE: here
is the problem with a little sin. A little sin does NOT stay little. It snowballs.
3.) Diminished Worship
24 And he took all the gold and silver, all the articles
that were found in the house of God with Obed-Edom,
The treasures of the Lord – part of the worship experience were
diminished
Meddling to your own hurt – Worship diminishes
. The riches of it are
gone... It lacks its vitality
4.) Destroyed
Freedom
Also took the treasures of the king's house, and
hostages, and returned to
They were taken hostage. The final result of meddling is loss of freedom.
Sin leads to bondage: No one thinks that one
little compromise will lead to an addiction but it does
Don’t meddle to your own hurt –
Trust God -
Walk with God with a Loyal heart – not be disappointed
RD V.25-28