40 Forward Week 7
40 Forward • Sermon • Submitted
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Transcript
Again, I want to welcome you tonight.
As I prayed and thought about what I’d share with you tonight, my mind kept going to a story out of .
It’s a passage of scripture that chronicles the last years of a King named Asa. A king that in the beginning days of his reign had a heart set on seeking and pleasing God. The writer of Chronicles puts it like this:
1 Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. 2 And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim 4 and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment.
2 Chronicles 14:1-
The writer says Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of God as he removed the false gods that the people had embraced and commanded the people of Judah to seek the Lord and keep His commandments.
And as a result, the Lord blessed Asa and gave him great victory over anyone that opposed him, established his kingdom, and gave the land of Judah peace from all its enemies.
And even when an enemy would arise to destroy that peace, God helped Asa quickly overcome them.
In fact, the writer tells us at one point an Ethiopian army consisting of a million men came against Asa. But in that moment Asa cried to the Lord for help. Listen to how the writer describes God’s response to Asa’s cry:
12 So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah carried away very much spoil.
2 Chronicles 14:12-
The writer says as Asa cried out to God for help, the Lord responded, destroyed the Ethiopian army, and gave Asa all the spoil from the Egyptian Army as peace was restored to the land.
And it’s at this point God sends a prophet too Asa to give him a message. Listen to what the Lord says to Asa in :
1 The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
2 Chronicles 15:1-
1 The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law,
The message given to Asa is simple. God says, “Asa, as long as you put your hope in Me, as long as you seek me, I will be with you. But Asa, listen carefully, the moment you don’t seek me, the moment you choose to forsake me, I will not be with you.”
Pretty clear, right?
So, how does Asa respond? Well, he responds as we might hope as he becomes even more dedicated to the Lord. So much so, that in his devotion to the Lord he calls all of Judah together to worship and honor the Lord. Listen to how the writer describes it:
9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 10 They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 They sacrificed to the Lord on that day from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep. 12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, 13 but that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. 14 They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns. 15 And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.
2 Chronicles 15:9-
Is that not amazing! Asa was so overcome by God’s favor that he held a celebration where over 7000 animals were sacrificed. A celebration where all of Judah makes a commitment to serve the Lord with all of their heart. A celebration that results in the Lord giving Asa and Judah rest all around. In other words, there was peace and prosperity in every direction you looked in Judah.
What an amazing story of how God works in the lives of those who faithfully seek Him.
And if the story ended there, what an encouraging and amazing story it would be.
But sadly, the story doesn’t end there. Because if we continue to read on, the writer says that Asa's reign didn’t end like it started. Because if we fast forward to the end of his reign, as the years passed, Asa’s fervor for the Lord declined and at some point came to a screeching halt.
You might ask, “Why? What happened? How did he go from seeking God to all of his heart to not seeking God?”
The fact is, we don’t know. But something happened. Something that drew Asa away from trusting the Lord. Something that caused him to stop seeking the Lord. So, we don’t know what caused Asa to do that. But here’s what we do know. We do know it came to a head in the 36th year of his reign. Listen to what the writer tells us:
1 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.
2 Chronicles 16:
The writer tells us in the 36th year of his reign, King Baasha, the king of Israel came up against Asa and built a barricade up against Judah that would not allow people to come in or leave the land of Judah. Which in all respects was an act of war.
So, what did Asa do? Did he cry out to the Lord like before? No, not this time. Instead, listen to what he did.
2 Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and the king’s house and sent them to Ben-hadad king of Syria, who lived in Damascus, saying, 3 “There is a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I am sending to you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.”
2 Chronicles 16:2-
The writer says instead of crying out to God for help, Asa turned to an enemy nation, to a man named Ben-hadad who was king of Syria. And in doing so, he sent the king of Syria gold and silver from the temple of the Lord to be used as a bribe. A bribe meant to break the treaty that existed between the King of Syria and Baasha the king of Israel.
So, I want you to think about that for a moment. Instead of asking God for help, Asa took treasure that had been dedicated to God and used it to hire a pagan army to help him defeat king Baasha.
Talk about not trusting the Lord. Talk about a smack in the fact of God. To not only not call on God, but to use God’s resources to secure victory through a pagan king.
So, did the bribe work? Let’s find out:
4 And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, and all the store cities of Naphtali. 5 And when Baasha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah and let his work cease. 6 Then King Asa took all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Baasha had been building, and with them he built Geba and Mizpah.
2 Chronicles 16:
The writer says that the king of Syria excepted the bribe, broke his treaty with Israel, which caused King Baasha of Israel to withdraw, allowing King Asa and his men to go and tear down the blockade that Baasha had been building. And now all is well as the crisis has been averted and peace reigns in the land once again.
But while the crisis has been averted, there will be consequences to Asa’s actions. Because listen to what the writer says happened next:
7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. 8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.”
2 Chronicles 167—9
The writer says not long after the bribe victory, the Lord sent a prophet once again to speak to Asa. But this time the words of the prophet are not as encouraging as before. This time the prophet scolds Asa for not trusting in the Lord, and in a sense, issues a curse.
And the curse basically goes like this, “Asa, because you put your hope in the King of Syria and not me. Because you failed to consider how I’ve delivered you in the past. Because you have acted foolishly, Asa, you will now have wars. Asa, the days of peace are over for you. Because you have forgotten what I declared to you so many years ago. You’ve forgotten that the Lord is looking for the person whose heart who understands their need for the Lord. Asa, you’ve forgotten I’m the one who delivers. Asa, you’ve put your hope in wrong place.”
So, how does Asa respond to this rebuke? Unfortunately, not like you would hope. Look at what the writer tells us about Asa’s response:
10 Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.
2 Chronicles
The writer says Asa responded in anger. In fact, he was so angry, he shot the messenger by putting him in the stocks in prison, and then in a fit of rage took out his frustrations on the people of Judah.
So, what’s going on here? Why is Asa responding like this? Well, obviously, something isn’t right in Asa’s heart. Because apparently over time, and at some point, Asa’s heart withdrew from the Lord, and it’s now its surfacing in his physical reaction to the Lord’s rebuke as anger, rage, and rebellion consume him.
And unfortunately, it doesn’t get better from there. Because from that point on, Asa’s heart withdrew even further from the Lord. Listen to what the writer tells us happened next:
12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians.
2 Chronicles 16:12
The writer says as the years went on, Asa became diseased in his feet, a disease that led to great pain. But even then Asa wouldn’t seek the Lord. Instead, the writer says he turned to physicians. Physicians that had no power to cure the disease or sustain his life. Because as the disease increased, Asa’s healthy decreased as the story ends with his death. In verse 13 we read:
13 And Asa slept with his fathers, dying in the forty-first year of his reign.
1 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah began to reign over Judah. 2 He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.
Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah went out to battle, having an army of valiant men of war, 400,000 chosen men. And Jeroboam drew up his line of battle against him with 800,000 chosen mighty warriors. 4 Then Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim that is in the hill country of Ephraim and said, “Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! 5 Ought you not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? 6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord, 7 and certain worthless scoundrels gathered about him and defied Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and irresolute and could not withstand them.
8 “And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made you for gods. 9 Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes for ordination with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are not gods. 10 But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the Lord who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. 11 They offer to the Lord every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out the showbread on the table of pure gold, and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may burn every evening. For we keep the charge of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken him. 12 Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your fathers, for you cannot succeed.”
13 Jeroboam had sent an ambush around to come upon them from behind. Thus his troops were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. 14 And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of and behind them. And they cried to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets. 15 Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 The men of Israel fled before Judah, and God gave them into their hand. 17 Abijah and his people struck them with great force, so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men. 18 Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers. 19 And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jeshanah with its villages and Ephron with its villages. 20 Jeroboam did not recover his power in the days of Abijah. And the Lord struck him down, and he died. 21 But Abijah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22 The rest of the acts of Abijah, his ways and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.
The writer says the disease finally took his life a couple years later, as Asa dies with his back turned to God.
And that is how the story ends.
2 Chronicles 13-
Now, you might be thinking, “Pastor, what a horrible story. I tuned into tonight to be encouraged, and that’s not a very encouraging story. In the midst of everything going on in our country, why would you share that story?”
I share that story, because unfortunately I think we have a lot in common with the story of Asa.
You might ask, “How so?”
Well, from a blessing stand point. like Judah, we are a country that has been immensely blessed by God. And I believe part of the reason for that, is in the beginning days of this countries birth, we were a country committed to God. A country founded and built on the foundation of Christian ideals and thinking.
And as a result, over the year we have been blessed for that as we’ve overcome numerous wars, financial crisis, and even terrorist attacks. Each that often sent our to our knees. Each that reminded us of our need for God.
But over the past few decades something has happened. There’s been a spiritual shift in America as we’ve moved to a Christian nation to a post Christian nation.
A nation that no longer honors God.
A nation that has removed his presence from our schools and college Campuses.
A nation that has turned His rainbow of promise into a sign of sinful living.
A nation that has murdered nearly 50 million babies since Roe versus Wade in 1973.
A nation that is full of wicked living, immoral thinking, and sinful behavior.
A nation that no longer seeks the Lord.
And just like Judah, a new enemy is standing at our door. An enemy that has us blockaded in our homes 6 feet apart from each other and is keeping us from coming and going.
An enemy that has the ability to kill and destroy with little warning.
And the question now is, “To whom will we turn? Where will we seek help from? Who will we cry out too?”
My hope would be that we would turn to the Lord. My prayer would be that we would cry out to God.
But if I’m honest, that isn’t happening. In fact, there are no signs of it. I don’t see it on social media.
I don’t hear it from the media. I don’t even hear very many churches encouraging people to cry out.
Instead, we are looking to the government for help. Instead, we are looking to doctors to find a cure. Instead we are relying on social distancing and good hygiene practices.
And please hear me, by saying that, I’m not saying we shouldn’t take advantage of the stimulus package, or hope that doctors find a cure to the corona virus, or practice good hygiene.
But what concerns me, is in the midst of this crisis, I see very few crying out to God. Very few seeking the Lord. In fact, I don’t even have a sense that it’s something many have considered.
You see, my fear is, like Asa, as a nation, our hearts have wondered so far from God, that even when hospitals are filling up and bodies are piling up, we refuse to turn to Him. We refuse to cry out to Him. We keep trying to do it our way.
And my fear is, we are standing at crossroads, and the question is, which way will we go. Will we continue to be a nation that denies the Lord. A nation that refuses to seek God. A nation that refuses to acknowledge our need for Him. Or, will we be a nation that turns our hearts back to him and cries out to Him.
Because the Lord is looking for a people would seek him. The prophet put it like this to Asa:
9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.”
Church, I’m just sharing my concern with you tonight. Because I’m extremely disturbed by the spiritual reaction to this crisis.
I’m disturbed that it hasn’t brought us to our knees.
I’m disturbed that instead of reflecting on what God might want to show us or teach us, we are busy airing our opinions on Facebook, busy arguing about whether we can cruise main on Friday night, busy trying to beat people to Walmart to buy toilet paper, busy focusing on how inconvenienced we are by all of this. All the while, putting our hope in what the government and doctors can do to end this crisis.
But what if instead of focusing on all that, we started focusing on the Lord. What if we turned to Him. What if we cried out to Him. What if we prayed the prayer that Asa prayed in the beginning days of his reign when he prayed:
11 And Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”
2 chronicles 14:11-
What if we followed the lead of Judah, as on the day of their celebration, they dedicated their hearts to God and celebrated His name.
What if we let go of our pride, let go of our sin, and let go of our self focus. What if we turned out hearts fully to God.
If we did that, do you think it would make a difference? Do you think God might respond?
I do. In fact, I know He would. Because he’s looking for people like that. People who understand our country is dying spiritually. People who want to see a move of God. People who are willing to make sacrifices for Him. People who are willing to cry out to Him. People who will give their lives fully to Him.
But that’s not who our country is right now. And I can tell you, I’m deeply concerned for our country, not because of the Corona Virus, but because of where we are spiritually. Because the fact is, we are not in a good place.
But I don’t think it’s too late. Because I believe through this virus, a Spiritual awakening could come. But it has to start with you and me. It has to start with people who understand the times and are willing to cry out to God.
To be honest, I’m not even sure how to end this message or where to go from here. All I know is we are at a cross roads as a nation. A point where a decision needs to be made. A decision that will either lead to spiritual life or death for our country. I truly believe that.
I guess my question to you tonight is, what is your decision? In other words:
Which Asa do you want to be? Do you want to be the Asa at the beginning, or the Asa at the end. The Asa that served God with all His heart and trusted an all powerful God.
Or the Asa that turned away from God. The Asa that sought answers from human resources and human ability. The Asa that died full of disease and with his back turned to God.
As the worship team comes, my prayer is you would want to be the Asa at the beginning. But for that to happen, you have to get a hunger for God. You have to recognize your need for Him. You have to be willing to seek Him with all your heart, and cry out to Him, not just for the end of this virus, but for the beginning of a spiritual awakening in our country. And maybe more importantly tonight, a spiritual awakening within you.
Will you make that your prayer tonight? Will you choose to be the Asa that is fully devoted to the Lord. The Asa that cries out to God. The Asa that recognizes our need for Him. The Asa that clears out the idols and sin in your life and devotes it fully to the Lord. Will you be that Asa.
