Sermon Tone Analysis
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New Year is always a time when we look to new beginnings.
That’s a good thing when we focus on the right thing.
Forget diet and exercise and so on!
Those are good things, but they are not ultimate things, and they do not last.
The right new beginning is really a re-beginning.
A renewal of our spiritual lives, a fresh start in our walk with the Lord.
I was struck a few weeks ago reading 2 Chronicles 15 as part of the Daily Bible Reading plan.
One verse in particular stood out to me and set a challenge for me, and I hope for all of us, for the new year.
It seems like such a solemn thing to do, such a weighty thing.
It made me want to join with them in that covenant to seek the Lord!
We’re going to look at the context and discern what else we can learn for ourselves at New City Church, and how this verse/chapter can get us focussed on the right thing at the start of this year.
Let’s bind ourselves to seek the Lord and seek him together.
Seek The Lord
First, the context.
We’re in the time of the divided kingdom - two kingdoms, each with their own king.
It’s a time when some kings are good - they worship the Lord.
But many are bad - they serve idols.
Asa is a good Davidic king (did what was right…2 Chron 14:2).
Second Chronicles 14-15 tell us about the reformation that Asa led, leading the people to seek the Lord.
Several things accompany the seeking of the Lord...
Word & Prayer
Asa has already taken some steps towards seeking the Lord in chapter 14.
He prayed for help in the face of battle...
Then Azariah brings this Spirit-empowered word of prophecy...
Note that this prophecy doesn’t refer to some time in the future, but actually points back to the time of the Judges when it all went wrong.
This is a prophecy that brings the Word of God to bear on the current circumstances in the power of the Spirit.
If we are truly seeking the Lord we will pay close attention to his Word, in full dependence on the Holy Spirit to convict us and renew us.
We will listen to what he says, and we will act on what he says.
We will take seriously his commandments, we will delight in following his law.
And if we are truly seeking the Lord we will call out to him in prayer.
We will come to see prayer as vital to our spiritual life as oxygen is to our physical life.
We will feel our need for him day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment.
We will long for an ever deeper communion with our Lord, because we will know that without him we can do nothing...
Another things to accompany a true seeking of the Lord...
Destroying Idols
You cannot seek the Lord if you are seeking other gods and bowing to idols.
Our love for them must be removed and destroyed, and worship of the true and living God must be restored (rebuild altar).
It’s worth asking the question at the start of a new year, what idols am I clinging to?
What gods do I worship that need to be abolished?
I wrote in my journal (Christmas present!) on New Year’s Day, “Lord, help me to crucify the desire for a peaceful and quiet life.”
I cannot wage war against sin and win the battle for faithfulness to God if my biggest desire is to sit back and relax.
That has to go! Pray for me!
What idol needs to be put to death in your heart?
It’s a question you need to answer.
Because if we are to seek the Lord then we must seek him with all our...
Heart & Soul
Another question to ask: is my devotion to God whole-hearted or half-hearted?
Am I really that bothered about the Lord?
Does he matter that much to me that I am willing to throw everything I have at seeking him?
Azariah said:
Implication: if you’re not seeking him you’re forsaking him.
If you don’t seek him you won’t find him!
It’s the language of Moses...
It’s the language of Jesus...
Brothers, sisters, we must seek the Lord in Word & Prayer, by destroying our idols, and with all our heart and soul.
And here’s the second thing from this passage.
Let’s...
Seek Him Together
You can’t miss the corporate nature of this chapter.
The people begin to seek the Lord as one people in covenant together and accountable to each other.
As one people
The unity is obvious.
As a result of Azariah’s prophetic preaching, and under Asa’s leadership, the people act as one community.
Gathering, sacrificing, worshipping.
It’s similar to what Paul urged of the Philippians...
It’s a reminder to us that we are not simply individual Christians living out our individual Christian lives.
We are not less than that, but we are so much more.
We are a community, a body, a building, an assembly of the Lord’s people.
Spiritually bound together through our faith in Christ.
Our gathering and worshipping is a corporate thing.
It’s not “me and the Lord” it’s “us and the Lord.”
And therefore our seeking the Lord is a corporate thing.
We must do it together.
The gathering of the church, whether Sunday morning, evening, midweek etc, shouldn’t be viewed as a thing of convenience, as something we can opt in or out of depending on our mood, tiredness, availability, or otherwise.
We are bound together in Christ.
We need one another.
They sought the Lord as one people...
In Covenant
Covenants were a big deal in those days.
This should probably be seen as a renewal of The Covenant the Lord made with the Israelites at Sinai.
By entering a covenant you are committing yourself to keeping the terms of that covenant.
It should not be entered into lightly.
Many churches enter into a covenant as part of their membership process.
It’s something we’ve discussed several times as elders and will likely discuss further.
There’s merit to having a written, clear and oft-repeated covenant that we hold to as a church family, especially one that essentially exhorts us to seek the Lord together.
For now ask ourselves this question: Are we prepared to commit ourselves to such a covenant, to a statement affirming our desire to seek the Lord with the other members of New City Church?
Give serious thought to that.
Could you bind yourself to such a statement and mean it and keep it?
They sought the Lord as one people in covenant, and therefore they were...
Accountable to one another
Now…!
That might be a little extreme for us!
We are, after all, under the New Covenant where One has been put to death for the many.
But you get the principle of accountability?
It’s a very NT idea.
The strength of the covenant community in keeping the covenant depends upon the commitment of the individual members.
We need one another to keep us accountable before the Lord.
We need one another to regularly check in, asking those awkward but necessary questions: “How are you spiritually?
What are you learning from the Word?
What is the Lord teaching you right now?
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